Bass's Assault: The Chaotix Vs The Pirate Ghosts
by Maurice A. Nigma
Summary: This is a first Rockman Exe. crossover fic that I've tried to do for my series of stories. It all starts for when Lan founds a shard of the most powerful gem in the Sonic Universe: A Chaos Emerald. What happens when Miguel, Sylphiel Nels Lahda, and SEGA
1. Chapter 1

**Bass's Assault! The Chaotix Vs. The Pirate Ghosts!**

**Characters of "The Sonic the Hedgehog" by: Yuji Naka of SEGA**

**Characters of "The Slayers" by: Tsuguhiko Kadokawa**

**Characters of "Rockman Exe." by: the people of Capcom.**

**Story Written by: Maurice A. Nigma**

**Note to Readers:** This is the first time that I've put up any characters from the Rockman Exe. series into one of my stories. In fact, I've done things that I thought that I never do. I guess that another one wouldn't hurt. Anyway, this story takes place right after **Shadow's Passion**. It also has the four SEGA characters that nearly everyone forgot: the Chaotix. I've put up a small story called **Bloody Dreams and Torment Souls: A Dreams Meaning **a while back. It takes place right before the events of **Dreams and Memories: Hellmaster Returns**. It also possesses a special appearance made by the Black Shadow Navi himself: Bass. If you read the story, then you would know what I mean. I'm planning to make another one after this one. However, it would be in the making for the time being. I would like to thank the guys at **Geneo-A** for supporting me through some tough times in my life. I would also like to thank **Anime Master Zero** for the inspiration that I need to continue on with my stories. For all of you MegaMan Fans, please be honest with your opinions and let me know if I made any mistakes. I would like to point out that this story would take place right after Stream of the Rockman Exe series. I did the best that I could and I hope that it's enough. Thank you for all of your attention and now, as I've said before, enjoy!

**Part 1**

On one peaceful and yet active afternoon in the local public park which is in the city of Dentech, Lan Hikari was roller skating his way along the street while starting his usual argument with his Net Navigator (Net Navi) who happens to be inside his P.E.T. (Personal Terminal). It has been a half a year since the asteroid's near collision to Earth has been avoided as well as the fall of Neo World 3 and its team of operators that controlled the powerful Asteroid Navis. But things seemed to return back to normal ever since then. However, that didn't improved the head-banded netbattler's ability to wake up in the morning nor did it help his focus daily routines like trying to get to a meeting with his friends.

"Oh, man!" Lan shouted as he tried his best to increase his speed in his roller blades. "I'm so going to be late meeting the guys at the school to plan for the Halloween Horror Night Party that Ms. Mari suggested that we do for the school!"

"Well, then you should've been focusing more on what we've been planning for the Halloween party than on that Net Battle that was going on at the arcade!" Mega Man responded with a stern and annoyed tone of voice. "I mean, not that it wasn't fun or anything, but if you weren't so distracted in that Net Battle that guy just challenged you to, then you wouldn't be in such a hurry to get to the meeting!"

"Hey! I didn't want to be rude to the guy by just going off his challenge!" the boy said as he was passing by the Mr. Higsby's Battle Chip Shop. "Besides, I had plenty of time for just one Net Battle and I just couldn't say no to an adoring fan!"

"An adoring fan that just got his butt whupped by the person that he's looked up to so much!" Megaman replied back with small smirk coming from his face on the screen. "I swear, Lan, you could be such a bad winner at times! I think that the thought of taking down World 3, Gospel, Nebula, and Neo World 3 as well as nearly taking the Championship Net Battle Title has finally gone to your head!"

"Well, it's not like that you weren't there to fight in that Net Battle, you know, Megaman!" Lan fired back as he was approaching the school gates of Dentech Academy. "You are as much to blame and is interested in fighting those past battles as I am! If you weren't so...!"

That was when Lan began to cut off his voice for when he suddenly started to notice an unusual green glow starting to shine from out of the school's alley way where the lunch ladies would usually throw away the leftovers. He then began to approach the large alley as the green light started to grow brighter as he got closer to its source. That was when he finally started to notice the words of his Navi friend as he was nearing the source of the emerald-colored light.

"Lan! Hello! Earth to Lan Hikari!" MegaMan shouted as high as the P.E.T. 3 would allow him. "Are you even listening to me! Where are you going that's more interesting than getting to the...?"

"Sorry, Megaman," the boy said to his Navi as he got closer to the green light's source, "it's just that there's a green light that's being emitted from the back way of the cafeteria's building. I'm just going to see what's causing it."

"Just be careful not to do anything that's...to...dangerous for...you...to..handle..," the blue Net Navi warned his operator as his voice began to break up by a bit of static. "Whatever is...causing...it...is creating an...electro magnetic field that's...breaking...up my...communications link with...you..!"

"Don't worry about it, Megaman! I'll be careful!" Lan replied to the blue Net Navi with a smirk on his face as he stopped near a huge pile of trash and approached it carefully. "Phew! Of course, with this much garbage around, I'll need to take a bath after this!"

The boy carefully approached the source of the green light as he kept on getting closer to the huge pile of garbage. As he was about five inches close to the garbage pile, Lan started to hold his breath and dig through the trash pile. While trying to ignore the slimy feeling of the content's juices within his hands, he saw a sight that was more magnificent than anything that he had ever seen or experienced in his life. What the boy saw among the trash heap was a shard of a green gem, but it wasn't just any stone. This jewel shard was shining with a brilliance that's almost as beautiful as any kind of jewelry that he remembered what his mother wore once.

_"Wow! That gem's amazing! Or at least part of it anyway," _Lan thought to himself as he reached his hand in order to touch the gem shard that's in the garbage pile. _"But what in the world is a jewel piece like this doing in a garbage pile behind the school's cafeteria? Maybe I should take this to the others and let them check it out so that..."_

Lan's thoughts were soon cut short for as soon as his hand made contact with the jewel shard, it soon started to glow brighter than it had did before he found it. Before he knew it, Lan was becoming blinded with the light of the green gem's brilliance.

While in their detective office which is located on the floating tropical paradise called Angel Island which is located in the skies of the planet Mobius, three friends out of their group of four, who call themselves the Chaotix, were waiting in a small room patiently to listen to the phone that's on the wooden desk of their office to ring. It has been months since they had a real case to handle and the pay wasn't bad. Right now though, it is almost as quiet as a wake for someone's departing spirit. A moment later, the green crocodile wearing a set of head phones named Vector, decided to break the long silence by opening his huge mouth as he slammed his fist impatiently to the wooden desk just before he spoke.

"Man! This bites!" Vector shouted as he shook his gloved fist to the air while at the same time breaking the long silence, "There hasn't been any action around in this island since we've been to that other world that Knux and his other friends have been to last time!

"I mean, there's been more action on that world than on this island! Not to mention the fact that it's far more interesting than what's been going on this rock! Plus, there was that human babe we saw for the first time! The one that has the long hair and tender body. Mmm-mmm! Now she's something to look at!"

"Whoa! Take it easy, Vec!" the orange and black armadillo Mighty said to his friend as he got up from his chair and tried his best to calm the croc down while chuckling softly at the same time. "I feel the same thing about being bored out of my skull as much as you do, but yelling like this isn't going to force something to drop out of the sky and give us a great adventure."

"I agree with Might on this one, Vector," the purple ninja chameleon Espio said along with his armadillo friend as he stood near the wall of the office quietly with his arms folded and with a arrogant sigh. "All you have to do is have a little patience and something will turn up sooner or later. Hee! Who knows, it might come to us by flying through the window and give us something that could..."

As if responding to the chameleon's last sarcastic words, their small bee friend, Charmy, suddenly flew from the window of their detective office and landed on the floor while holding what appears to be a huge green glowing stone shard around in his arms. When Vector, Mighty, and Espio saw their friend with the green stone, they immediately started to rush towards Charmy's direction and checked up on their friend. They could tell from how he's breathing that the small bee was exhausted from carrying the gem shard that he worked so hard to bring as well as trying to fly back towards the office.

"Yo, Charms! What's up?" Vector asked Charmy as he then started to take notice of the green gem shard. "Why are you carrying that green jewel shard as if your life depended on it? What's the big deal? Come to think of it, where did you get it to begin with?"

When the bee finally caught his breath, he soon started to turn his attention towards his friends and began to say to them as he held up the green jewel shard, "That shard that I was carrying is a part of a Chaos Emerald that I've found while I was traveling around the island looking for a case for us to work on! I then decided to pick it up and bring it here so that all of us could try to figure out where it came from! Besides, I didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands where anyone could get to it!"

"Now that has been clear, what do we with it now, guys?" Mighty started to ask the group as he picked up the little bee and helped him to sit on one of the chairs of the office. "We can't just sit by here and do nothing."

"Well, one thing's for sure, Might, we can't just keep this emerald shard here in the office so that one day some creep might show up and attack from behind while he snags away the emerald shard," Espio responded to the armadillo as he took a look at the shard that Charmy was holding. "In the wrong hands, it could become dangerous."

"Then why don't we just take this emerald to Knux's place?" the green crocodile said to his friends as he snagged the emerald shard from the young bee and held it up in the air for a better look at it. "I mean, the homeboy does know more about the Chaos Emeralds better than we all do and, besides, he might come up with a clue as to why an emerald shard like this one is just stick'n around the ground for any goon to get it to began with."

"Well, for once I have to agree with you, Vector," the purple chameleon said to the Vector with a amused chuckle. "Knux is certainly the guy to turn to for whenever a Chaos Emerald shard has suddenly appeared out of nowhere without any explanation."

"Then what are we all doing here just standing around here for?" Charmy began to say as he soon started to become enthusiastic about the idea while getting up from his seat. "Let's get going so that we could get this case underway!"

"First things first, Charms," Mighty said to the small bee as he gave his young friend a play slug on the arm, "we need to get one of those boxes that Knuckles has sent us from Tails's workshop so that the energies inside it wouldn't grow out of..."

Before the armadillo has the chance to finish his sentence, the Chaos Emerald shard that's in Vector's hand started to glow brighter with emerald-green light without warning. "Yo! What's up with this?" shouted the green crocodile as he started to become blinded along with his friends.

"Vector! Drop that emerald before it's too late!" shouted Mighty as the light continued to grow brighter and brighter by the minute.

"Charmy! Vector! Mighty! Where are you guys!" Espio yelled as the emerald light engulfed the chameleon's entire form.

"Guys! Where did you all go!" Charmy shouted in response before he along with his friends were engulfed in a sea of emerald colored light unaware that their next adventure is about to begin.

While walking in the abandoned streets of the city of San Fernando that's on the planet Earth, Miguel Angel Arias, in his casual type of clothing of a white shirt along with black pants and a dark blue sweater, was just admiring the victory that he just had against a gang of teens who were trying to steal money from a small family of four. He then held up a huge green emerald shard, which he had gotten from the leader of the gang, out of the box that his two-tailed fox friend Tails given to him for the storage of Chaos Emeralds and smiled proudly to himself as he thought about his short exciting but yet dangerous encounter with the group.

_"This Chaos Emerald shard that those punks had shouldn't be in their hands to begin with," _he thought as he looked closely at the emerald while making sure that no one from the gang who managed to slip away is following him from behind in order to get some payback. _"Besides, that gang of hoodlums was picking on a helpless family for their money and there's no way that I could just stand there and do nothing. _

_"It's a little punishment for their crime. Good thing that I've covered up my face with my favorite blue sweatshirt so that no one would know who I am while I was using my powers before the police arrived. Those guys wouldn't be able to move for a while thanks to my Mind Hold technique which grants the officer enough time to call for backup to put them behind bars. I'm just glad that I was able to help that family out like I did._

_"Now back onto how this Chaos Emerald shard managed to be in the hands of those guys in the first place. How is it even possible for it to be in this dimension to begin with? Well, whatever it is, it's probably best if I just go straight home, get to my computer, and tell the others all about it. But, I'm too far out of reach from the nearest bus stop in order to get to it on time. Which means that there's the power of the Chaos Control to use."_

While looking around one more time to see if anyone was watching him, Miguel sighed with relief and held up the gem shard in the air. _"Besides, why bother to use the bus to get home when I could just warp there in less than one second for free?" _the young man thought to himself with a smile as he held up the emerald shard and started to shout out the name of the time and space warping technique, "Chaos Control!"

As he was being engulfed by emerald green light, Miguel soon started to notice that the brilliance started to grow to out of control for him to control. "What in the world! What's happening! Nothing like this is has happened to me before while I used the Chaos Control! Just what is going on!" he yelled as his eyesight was soon blinded by the light and found himself traveling helplessly in a bright green tunnel of light while crossing between time and space towards his unknown destination.

While traveling alongside the road back towards her uncle's home, Sylphiel Nels Lahda was the bright day sky after finishing her monthly prayers that she made to her father and the rest of the people who perished along with him in her former home: the city of Siaraag. She would always arrive at the aquatic ruins of the city, she usually finds it very peaceful for when she needed to be alone to do her prayers. It was easy since she was able to use the power of the Chaos Control ability that she gained from watching Miguel do it about three months ago for when she toured his world to see what it's looks like. It also gave her all the time she would need to speak to her perished father about what she's experienced with her new friends Miguel along with the four Mobians, as her young male friend would call them as well as help others in need of aid.

After she's finished with her prayers, she was about to head back towards her uncle's home for when she soon started to sense the power of a Chaos Emerald near the watery ruins. Ever since coming in contact with the mystical gem, her own natural and magical senses have been enhanced and increased in order to sense energies that she would never be able to see with her normal powers. When she was near a stone pillar impaled in the water of her former home, the shrine maiden flew to the top of it and found what appears to be a huge green gem shard. After she got the jewel shard off the surface and examined it more closely, Sylphiel soon found that it was definitely a piece of the most powerful force that she'd experienced before: a Chaos Emerald.

_"But why would a shard of a Chaos Emerald be lying in the ruins of Siaraag on a place where just about anyone or anything could get to it?" _she thought to herself as she continued to look at the Chaos Emerald shard that's now in her hand. _"For that matter, just how did it arrive in this world? I should contact Miguel and the others to let them know about what I've found. But, I have to go back to my uncle first to let him know that I'm going to be away for a short while so that I don't have to get him worried about my safety." _

That was when Sylphiel soon started to notice that the sun in the blue sky is on top of her, which means that to her that it's already noon. The trip to the ruined city from her uncle's house alone was a week and a half journey from where she is and it would be a little longer before she could actually arrive there. Then the shrine maiden started to have a thought in her head that nearly caused her to slap herself on the forehead for when she realized that she could get home in far less than it would take by walking on foot alone.

_"If I use the power of the Chaos Control like I did the last time for when I was in Miguel's world as well as in this world, I would be able to get home much faster," _Sylphiel thought to herself as she looked at the green emerald piece along with a smile on her face. _"I could have myself lunch and then use the emerald shard in my red pendent to signal Miguel so that he could come and investigate the matter. Hee! Then maybe I could invite him over for some my cooking if he's a bit..."_

The shrine maiden's thoughts were cut short for when the Chaos Emerald shard suddenly started to glow with a green brilliance that is brighter than the sun itself. "Whaaaa! What's going oooonnn...?" she shouted as she was being engulfed by the light the emerald light coming from the light and fainting from the sight of the overwhelming brilliance that she saw as she was being carried away from her world to another plane of existence.

From deep within the network, in the bottoms of the Cyber World's Undernet sector, a cloaked Net Navi sensed something that he hadn't felt before. Something strong yet strange. As soon as the tremendous surge of power fade, Bass soon found himself curious as to where it came from.

_"This power that I'm sensing...it isn't like anything that I've ever felt before," _the Black Shadow thought to himself as he looked around the dark Undernet area to see if anything else have felt the surge of power as well. _"It seems that the viruses in this area must have fled for shelter after feeling this power. It's so incredible that it could be even greater than that of that blue Navi, MegaMan. It also feels as if it were from another world. I must know where this energy is coming from. It could be the very thing that I need in order to conquer both the Cyber World and the Human World as well as defeat that blue little MegaMan once and for all."_

With those thoughts done in his mind, Bass transported himself out of the Undernet area and began his search throughout the entire world's network in order to look for the power that he felt in order to obtain it.

When the emerald-colored light began to fade from his sight, Lan started to blink both of his eyes in order to get them properly focused in order to see what just happened.

"Lan! What in the world is going on out there!" the boy heard his Net Navi friend suddenly shouting out to him with concern as he continued to try to get eyes focused. "There was this huge magnetic disturbance being emitted from around the area that you're in that's causing me to lose contact with you and then it suddenly disappears without any further explanation! But what really concerns me is that the field didn't erase my data or cause the P.E.T. to explode like it would any other computer appliance! Just what's going on around here?"

"I don't know, Mega Man," Lan responded to his friend as his eyesight began to return to him, "but I think that it might have something to do with that gem shard that I tried to pick up!"

"What gem shard!" Mega Man replied with a confused tone of voice. "Just what are you talking about, Lan?"

"The one that I've saw in the garbage pile while on the way over here!" the boy responded as he started to sniff the faint fumes of the suddenly disappeared garbage and tried his best to hold back the smell in his nose. "Pee yew! What I want to know is what is a gem stone as precious as this one doing in a stinking pile of garbage that's near the back of the school's cafeteria to begin wi...?"

Lan's words were soon cut short for when he started to noticed that the gem shard that he was holding was a bit more complete and larger that it was before. But that wasn't the only thing that surprised him. What surprised him the most is that a group of hands was touching his own for when he was about to regain his eyesight. When the boy finally regained his full sight, he then looked at what was holding him and found the most extraordinary sight that he has ever seen.

What Lan saw was an unconscious teenaged boy that was wearing as clean black pair of jeans along with a clean looking white shirt and navy blue sweater with brown hair and looked a bit too tall for a teenager. The girl that the young net battler saw him with has a long and beautiful mane of dark violet hair that he has ever seen. The purple clothing that she wore looked almost like that of the middle ages of England that he'd heard about during one of his teacher's discussions of world history in class.

But what surprised Lan the most is the bizarre human-like animal creatures that were lying on the floor of what once where the trash pile was and looked at each of them carefully. One of them looked like a little cute but oversized bumble bee that looked as though it were dressed to be a fighter pilot. Another looked like a purple chameleon with a yellow horn on its forehead which has white spike glove that looked as though they were used for fighting of some sorts. The other next to him had an orange shell on his back to his head and was a bit black too. The last of them, which was continuing to hold onto his hand looked like a huge green crocodile with sharp teeth that looked as though it would chop off his hand at any moment. The only thing that made this croc out of place, besides the same type of white gloves that the other creatures were wearing, was the fact that it was were a pair of head phones over its head and a gold chain around its neck.

When Lan finally managed to free himself and the emerald from the weird-looking reptile's strong human grip, the young man then looked at his hand with the gem shard and found that the green jewel fragment that he was holding now looks like a near completed emerald that sparkles like a precious jewel. When the boy tried his best to back away from the strange group, he soon found the green crocodile yawning while its mouth opened wide enough to almost fit his entire head.

"Al...al..alligator!" Lan screamed as he pulled himself away from the strange group and back away only a few feet.

"Lan, what are you talking about?" Mega Man asked just as the head-banded boy pulled the P.E.T. away from his side pack and faced its screen towards the strange group. "There are no alligators that inhabit the areas near Dentech City or places that would be suitable for them to live..."

The Net Navi's words were soon cut off for when he was looking at what was Lan was starting at. That was when Mega Man started to say to his Net Operator with a surprised voice, "Lan! Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing or am I just having a system malfunction! Are those guys some sort of mutant aliens from another world or something! What's...!"

That was when MegaMan's words were soon cut short for when the Lan heard the crocodile beginning to open its mouth and started to say, "Awww, man! Just who would have the nerve to wake me up? I was just having the nicest dream! They'd better have a good excuse for...!"

Just before the crocodile could have the chance to finish his angry sentence out of its huge jawed mouth, Lan soon found himself screaming his head off shouting in fear along with his Net Navi friend as he put his P.E.T. back in its holding place while skating away from the alley and into the school unaware that he was still holding the huge near-completed emerald in his hands.

"Ahhhhh! Everybody get out of the area!" the two of them screamed in unison, "Mutant animals have landed and are going to take over the world! Run for your lives!"

After awaking from what appears a long unconscious sleep by the sound of two people yelling something about mutate animals, Miguel soon found himself getting up from the ground and tried his best to shake his head back into order while ridding himself of the headache.

_"Man! Now that was the weirdest experience that I've ever had," _he thought to himself as he continued to shake his head as he tried to steady himself with his feet while regaining his eyesight little by little. _"That had never happened before for when I've used the Chaos Control while holding a Chaos Emerald in order to use it. Could it be because that what I was using could be only a part of the Chaos Emerald which could explain why it went hay-wire and..."_

When he fully regained his full eyesight, Miguel looked around to look where he is and the young human was surprised for when he saw who was with him. Lying on the ground unconsciously of the alley that he saw that he was in is the shrine maiden Sylphiel Nels Lahda from the four universal planes called the Four Worlds. But she wasn't the only person who caused Miguel to become surprised with her appearance. The other group of people that surprised him the most is a group that he thought that he may never get a chance to see again ever since their first encounter in his world: the Chaotix.

"Vector? Charmy? Espio? Mighty? Sylphiel?" he began to say to all of them while the young man saw the shrine maiden beginning to awaken from her slumber at the sound of hearing her own name being said to her. "What are all of you doing here?"

As she tried her best to get herself off of the ground, Sylphiel started to notice that her head was starting to feel a bit light and empty as she got herself onto her feet. Her vision was a bit blurry from being blinded by the intense rays of emerald light that the gem shard that she once had in her hand gave off. The shrine maiden then felt her feet beginning to give out as she soon found herself starting to fall to the ground of wherever place that she was sent to. However, the shrine maiden didn't feel herself hit the hard ground for when she felt the arms of someone catching her just before she could fall to the floor. That was when she started to hear familiar voices saying to one another as each of them started to become clear to her.

"Yo, man! What's wrong with the chick?" asked one of the persons as Sylphiel tried her best to regain full use of her eyesight. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Never mind that, Vector," added another voice with a surprised tone. "What I want to know is how we all end up here together in one place and figure out what just happened to that emerald shard that you were holding before."

As she tried her best to regain her eyesight while trying to get herself free from whoever was holding her, Sylphiel soon began to hear a familiar voice of a young man as he said to her, "Whoa! Take it easy, beautiful. You don't want to over strain yourself and try to make whatever is making you feel sick worse. Just let me help you back on your feet, okay?"

With those words finished, the shrine maiden suddenly felt a familiar warm feeling that was being emitted from the young man's body. She have felt this sort of emotion before for whenever she was near the boy Miguel Arias. The same loving and caring feeling that she had felt for when she and her father, Eruk, hugged while enjoying each others embrace. As she started to regain her eyesight little by little, she turned to the direction of where supposedly the young man's face was suppose to be. When the shrine maiden finally regained her full sight a moment later, she soon found herself looking at the face of the human that became a dear friend to her ever since her battle with the creature called Nightmare Parasite: Miguel Angel Arias.

"Miguel, is that really you that I'm looking at right now?" Sylphiel asked with a hopeful look on her face. "Or are you some sort of illusion?"

"Well, who are you expecting to look at, Sylphiel? Lina Inverse in Angry Mode? Please!" responded Miguel with a playfully smart aleck tone in his voice as he sighed with a pretend tone of annoyance.

As an answer to his question, Sylphiel soon found herself wrapping her arms around the young man and hugged him with joy filling up within her heart. "Oh, Miguel, I'm so happy to see you again!" she said to him as she enjoyed the warmth of his body while squeezing him tightly. "I thought that I was in some bandit gang's hideout being held captive, but now I understand that it was only you who's trying to help me for when I..."

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Take it easy, Sylphiel. I get the point," Miguel responded to her with a sort of uneasy tone while patting her on the back in order to calm her down. "Sheesh! You think that by the way you act and say around me, you might start to think that a pretty young girl like you wasn't going to see me ever again. However, now is not the time to start a happy reunion. What's really concerning me right now is how did we all...?"

While blushing at what her friend just said to her, Miguel's words were cut off by the voice of someone with a bit of attitude and jealousy too. "Yo! Did you already forget all about us, babe? How is it that you are able to remember that guy and forget to say hi to the four of us!"

"Vector, you're being rude!" said another voice who's tone is rather serious but not too much. "Do you think that putting on that sort of attitude of yours, that you might get Sylphiel's attention? Sheesh!"

"I have to agree with Might on this one, Vec," Sylphiel heard another voice who gave off a soft chuckle with a little tone of arrogance in it. "Your way on how you act in front of a pretty girl is just too..."

"Guys! Guys! Let's try not to start an argument about this right now!" said a young and high voice. "We should be concentrating on how all of us managed to get to this place to begin with and about that Chaos Emerald shard that was in Vector's hands a moment ago!"

That was when the shrine maiden finally began to recognize the voices of the group who were talking with one another as she said each of their names one at a time while trying to suppress an embarrassed red shade of color on her face. "Vector? Espio? Mighty? Charmy? Are you all here too?" she began to ask the figures as she turned and saw that the group that was about to argue with one another was none other than the same group of friends that appeared Miguel's world while she was in it for the first time that she toured herself around in it with him: the Chaotix.

"Oh! Well, how about that, ya guys? She remembers us!" responded the green crocodile while pretending to have a sarcastic tone in his voice.

"Vector! Quit playing around and get serious for the moment!" the purple chameleon Espio said to his friend with a serious tone in his voice along with annoyed expression on his violet face.

"Espy is right, Vec!" added the black and orange armadillo Mighty. "There's the fact that all of us were transported into this world that, I assume, is caused by a shard of a Chaos Emerald that each of us found in each of our worlds."

_"The Chaotix as well as Miguel have each found a shard of a Chaos Emerald like the one I had in my hand a moment ago?"_ Sylphiel thought to herself, instantly forgetting her embarrassment and became interested in the subject while at the same time beginning to notice that the emerald shard that she once had in her hand is now gone. _"If that were the case, then what has happened to the emerald shards that we all had that caused all of us to be here in this place?" _

The shrine maiden's question was soon repeated by the small bumble bee named Charmy who asked, "Um, guys? Speaking of how we all got here, just what exactly happened to the Chaos Emerald shards that we all had?"

"Yeah, come to think of it," Sylphiel heard the voice of Miguel finally starting to say as she felt him releasing himself from her embrace and looked around the area that they were in, "just what exactly happened that caused a Chaos Emerald to break apart into the pieces that we all once had in the first place? But what I'm most concerned right now is what world that we've been transported to and who or what has gotten a hold of the emerald shards now?"

The question that the human named Miguel Angel Arias caused the Chaotix to wonder all about the sudden disappearance of the emerald shards that all of them had before they were all transported to the world that they were in now. That was when Vector started to remember about the cause of his rude awakening before he could see who was it that called him a mutant alligator.

"Guys, I think that I have an idea about just what took the shards," the croc said as he tried his best to control his temper while shaking his fist, "or rather, **who** took them. Just before I woke up, I heard the voice of some punk kid who had the nerve to call me a mutant alligator! Not only that, but he and some other punk had the nerve to call me that name as well! Why of all the things to call me, it's...!"

That was when Vector's voice was cut off by Mighty for when he said to his friend while trying to calm him down. "Whoa! Easy, Vec!" the armadillo said while he started to have a firm grip on the crocodiles arms. "Going postal all over the place isn't going to help solve the situation that we're in right now!"

"As much as I would like for you to have a fit over it, Vec," Espio said while still keeping a serious tone in his voice, "I'm going to have to agree with Might, on this one. So I suggest that you save all that anger of yours for the one who took the emerald shards and calm down."

"Might is right on this, Vector!" Charmy respond as the little bee flew up to his green friend's face. "We have to stay calm and figure out what to do next otherwise things are going to get a little hectic!"

"Listen to what your friends are saying, Vector!" Miguel's voice began to say to the group with a calm tone in his voice. "If you don't start thinking with a cool head and if that Chaos Emerald gets into the hands of some evil nutcase, then trying to impress a pretty young girl and getting your revenge on the kid will soon be the least of your worries."

Vector then began to breathe and counted to ten so that he could have the chance to calm himself. He felt the armadillo releasing his strong hold of his arms and that was when he said to Miguel while turning his attention towards the human's direction, "You're right, Homey. Sorry for losing my cool like that. It's just that the words that the kid said about me got to me and made me snap like..."

The croc's words were then cut short by the human girl named Sylphiel saying to him, "It's alright, Vector. There's no need for you to explain. We all understand what you're feeling right now. Just try to be a bit more careful with your temper, okay?"

"Okay! Now that you're all calm and cool now, Vec," Miguel said with a serious tone in his voice while getting everyone's attention, "let us all get back to how are we going to get the shards of the Chaos Emerald back from whomever took them. But we also have to find out where we all are in order to avoid any unnecessary looks from the people here because I have a feeling that this world is not going to be anything like my world."

"Well, if that's the case," Espio started to say with the same tone of seriousness as Miguel has, "then I should be the one to go and look around the area that we're in so that I could check out exactly where we are. I do have the ability to turn invisible and could blend in with any surroundings. So I have less chance of being noticed by the people of this world and won't be able to attract any unwanted attention by the local authorities."

In response to the purple chameleon's words, Charmy started to fly towards his friend and say with enthusiasm in his voice, "Hey, yeah! Espy, does have a better chance of checking the whole place out than any of us could and he might be able to find the kid who took the shards of the Chaos Emerald! We could also increase our chances of finding the guy if we all split up! I could fly around the city high enough without any of the people here to notice."

The Chaotix soon started to hear the voice of Miguel soon started to give out an uneasy shrug as he began to say, "Well, I don't know this, guys. I mean, it sounds a bit too risky to even consider splitting up and if..."

His words were soon cut short by the voice of the beautiful shrine maiden Sylphiel as she said to him, "Miguel, please give the idea a try. If we don't at least try something to look for the shards of the Chaos Emerald, then who knows what might happen if they ever fall into the wrong hands."

The Chaotix then heard Miguel started to give out a defeated sigh and responded to the young lady by saying to her as he faced her direction, "(Sigh) Alright, Sylphiel. You win. I guess that it wouldn't hurt to at least let Espio and Charmy take a look around the area so that we could know exactly where we are and find the emerald shards. It's not like that we have any other choices at the moment."

"Score!" the four friends shouted in unison as they all gave out a high five towards each others hands, giving out a loud slap being given off a moment later.

"But..." the human suddenly started to say as he paused for the moment and turned back towards their direction before he could continue, "the two of them would have to meet us right back here so that all of us would know where the others are in case something weird should happen and with those shards of the Chaos Emerald being anywhere at all in this world, anything could happen."

"Well, then let's get our rears in gear and get going!" Mighty began to say as he soon waited for a plan that anyone in the alley that they're in could come up with.

"All right, then here's how it'll go," Vector soon began to say to the entire group while clapping his hands in order to get their attention. "Espy will go into his Stealth Mode and scope things out from in the shadows on the ground while the Charms Man will fly up into sky and cruise around in the air to get a bird's eye view.

"Meanwhile, me and Might will stay here with Miguel and Sylphiel to act as extra muscle while the two of them are trying to detect the powers comin' from the shards. We'll wait ten minutes in order to see if there are no suspicious looking characters around the area and once that's been done, the four of us could try to scope out the 'hood from the ground so that we could find the kids who took the shards of the emerald. But all of us would have to try to meet back here in about two hours so that we could rap to one another about what we have learned about the emeralds' whereabouts as well as the area. Does anyone understand what I've just said before we split from here?"

No one had said a word to the crocodile as they all nodded their heads towards him as a response to his question. All but Sylphiel who, with a blank look on her face and shaking her head while asking the crocodile, "Um, only that I wanted to know what exactly do you mean by for when you've said the words 'rap' and 'split.'"

That was when each of the members of the Chaotix started to look at the long-haired girl while each of them looked at her with a cocked eyebrow. That was when Miguel, while trying to conceal the slightly embarrassed expression on his face with his hand, started to say to the slightly confused young woman as he turned her away, "Um, Sylphiel. Perhaps it's best that you hold onto that thought for when after both Espio and Charmy are out of here, okay?"

While still seeing her wearing a confused expression on her face, the Chaotix saw Sylphiel nodded in response to the young man's request. That was when Espio started to walk up towards Vector and whispered as he tried to avoid being heard by both Miguel and Sylphiel, "That girl really is from another world, isn't she Vec?"

The green croc only nodded in agreement with his purple friend before he turned his full attention back to the group again and said, "Okay! Now that it's settled, let's put the plan into action and try to our best to find the little creeps that took the emerald shards!"

"Right!" everyone shouted in unison before the little bee Charmy started to fly up into the air at top speed while Espio vanished from sight into thin air.

Both Might and Vector both just stood there along with both Miguel and Sylphiel as they waited for the ten minutes to pass them by. That was when the black and orange armadillo broke the silence by saying to the crocodile, "So, Vec, what are we going to do here in the meantime? It's not like we have anything else to do."

In response to his friend's question, Vector started to walk up towards both Miguel and Sylphiel and that was when he began to ask the young man, "Yo, Miguel. If it's alright with you, do you think that I could talk to your beautiful friend here for a moment about what she asked a few moments before?"

Mighty was surprised for when the armadillo heard the voice of Miguel respond to the green crocodile's words with a cool and yet normal tone of voice, "Sure, Vector. It's fine by me. Just try to make your lecture with Sylphiel short so that we could get on with our mission of finding the kid with the emerald shards."

While seeing his green friend giving a nod of his head, Mighty saw Vector immediately starting to turn his attention towards the purple-haired human girl named Sylphiel and began to say to her with his usual cool and natural tone of voice, "Okay, babe. Now listen up and listen up good 'cause Professor Vector here is going to give you a lesson on the phrases that I use for whenever I want to act cool in front of a huge crowd of people or to my friends."

_"Oh joy, this should be good for a laugh," _Mighty thought to himself with a soft sigh as the armadillo sat by and listened in on the lecture that the crocodile was giving to the human girl, who was listening very carefully to what Vector has to say.

As he searched the entire Cyber World without any of its inhabitants noticing his presense, the feeling that Bass once felt within his body suddenly disappear without a trace.

_"What? The power that I've once felt within my body has just disappeared," _the Black Shadow thought to himself as he scanned the entire area in order to once again find the energy trail that he was following. _"An energy source that powerful could've just vanished out of sight! It would be impossible for any type of high level firewall or security program to hide from me! It shouldn't be possible unless..."_

That was the cloaked Navi came up with a thought that he didn't have the time to think about up until now. _"That incredible power source that I've felt is within the world of the humans!" _he thought in frustration as he felt his entire body being tensed up with nothing but rage. _"The greatest source of power that I have ever felt has eluded my sights only to leave me with the thought that it could possibly be in the human world! Now how am I suppose to...!" _

As if to answer his very question, he then sensed another power source that seemed to be different from the one that he felt before. He would never allow himself to admit it, but for when he felt this power flowing through his body it's as if he was trembling with nothing but fear and panic across his body. A cold chill suddenly went up his spine.

_"Whatever force that I've just sensed, it's gone now," _Bass thought as he tried to regain his usual and quiet composure. _"It's strange, but it's as if the very presense of this power is strong enough to bring over billions of humans into a state of fear. Not only that, but it also seems that the very fabric of space and time itself is starting to break apart because of this power."_

The Black Shadow then looked around and saw that all of the Navi's around the area that he was in didn't seem to notice the powerful force that he just felt before he thought to himself again. _"These foolish Navis didn't seem to notice the incredible surge of power that I've just felt. I'm not so sure if I want to find out or not. But, I must continue my search for this great power if I'm to get my revenge on the humans of this planet! I'll destroy anything that gets in my way, that includes any foolish human that dares to get in my way." _

With those thoughts done, Bass began to once again scan all around the world's Cyber matrix in order to find the strong power source that he sensed without any of the local Navis ever noticing his presense.

**End of Part 1**


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**

**Note to Readers**: Sorry for the long delay folks. It's just that I was celebrating my younger sister's birthday party this weekend and I ended up cleaning the entire back and front yards. That and I needed to study for my big exam. I tell you it's a tough one. AnywayI hope that you all understand the reason for my absense. I would like to thank the group called **Generation-A** for their continued support on the my stories. I hope that they continue to lend me their support. And for some of you wondering, I know that the title is a bit weird, but I'm not good with putting up names. I'm only good with making up names for my stories, not their titles. Anyway, I did the best that I could and I hope that you all like what I've put up and once again, I'm sorry for the delay. Thank you for understanding. Now, enjoy!

As he was continuing to run from the group of strange aliens that he saw, Lan was still screaming his warning about what he saw just before at the same time as he entered the school. MegaMan is also screaming along with his operator just before they both went through the halls of the school building. When they both finally made it to the class room where they were suppose to meet their friends, Lan soon found himself to be in a situation that's just as worse as looking and confronting mutant aliens from outer space: facing the expressions on his friends' faces filled with both annoyance and anger while looking at him for being late for their meeting. His long time best friend, Maylu Sakurai, was the first to speak a piece of her mind.

"Lan Hikari! Just where in the world have you been!" Maylu said to boy as she walked up towards him angrily and yanked his ear as hard she could. "Do you have any idea what time it is and how long have we been waiting! You'd better have a very good excuse for being late past six in the afternoon!"

"Ow! Ouch! It's not what you think, Maylu!" Lan said as he tried his best to free himself from his female friend's strong hold on his ear while forgetting about the huge near-completed emerald in his hand at the same time. "Please calm down! It's just that..."

"Well, come on, Lan! Spill the beans!" the big kid Dex said with an angry and sarcastic tone of voice. "We just can't wait to hear the excuse that you have this time before we know what just kept you busy for so long that had to be more important than trying to prepare for the Halloween Horror Night that we've all been waiting so long for you to show up! I had to shut down my restaurant and cancel this week's curry special just so that we could all wait for you to get here!"

"The same goes with me as well!" Tory said along with Dex as he looked at his head-banded friend with the same expression on his face as the big kid did.

"Arf!" said the barking voice of the cyber dog Rush while at the same time glaring at Lan with the same expression as the others.

Lan didn't say a thing as his friends Maylu, Rush, Dex, Yai, and Tory kept looking at him with those annoyed and angry expressions that each wore ever since he arrived. "Well, do you have anything to say for yourself, Lan Hikari!" the little blond girl Yai shouted to the boy as she ended the long silence a moment later. "What has got your attention so much that you have to get here so late!"

Lan closed both of his eyes and prepare himself for anything that either of his friends could shout out to him before he soon started to notice that every one of his friends were silent and didn't

say a single word to him. In order to find out the source of the silence, Lan started to open his eyes again and saw that each of his friends' gazes were drawn towards the huge glowing emerald that the boy had nearly forgotten about. The emerald he has in his hand ever since his encounter with the aliens. Lan then began to sigh with relief as he noticed that each of his friends had forgotten all about his tardiness and showed interest in the gem that he has in his hand.

"Whoa, Lan! Where did you get that gem?" he heard Yai saying as she kept her eyes on the sparkling gem in his hand with her eyes glowing with a sparkling light. "It almost looks like one of the gems that my mom has in her world wide jewelry collection at our home! Only, this one looks like that it has been broken."

"It's so pretty!" Maylu added as she looked at the shining emerald with amazement and awe. "It's the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen! Where in the world did you find a gem like this, Lan? It's so huge and pretty!"

"Hmph! That's what I would like to know myself, Lan!" Dex said with a jealous tone as the big kid kept both of his eyes on the green gem stone. "If a stone like that has managed to get Maylu's attention, then I would certainly like to know where you got it so that I could get something like that for..."

"Well, anyway," Maylu began to say as she cut Dex's words short and turned her full attention towards Lan while smiling at him at the same time, "as Dex was saying, where did get a beautiful stone like this that kept you late for so long? Is this the reason why you're late? Did you managed to find it in order to give it to me?"

Lan was so shocked at his female friend's words that it caused him to jump back and blush profusely as he began to say, "What the...! Are you kidding me, Maylu! I didn't bring this gem just so that I could try to impress you! I came here to...!"

"Oh, don't try to play dumb, Lan!" Dex said as he looked at the head-banded boy with an angry expression on his face like a bull. "You know as well as I do that you've had a crush on Maylu since we were little kids and..!"

"Dex! That is not the case!" Lan quickly responded to his big friend's words while cutting off them and tried his best to suppress the red color that was starting to develope on his face. "I've just found this emerald right...!"

"Oh! That's so cute, Lan!" Yai suddenly started to say as she began to look at Lan with a mischievous look on her face. "Trying to impress Maylu while forgetting about your tardiness is just so...!"

"Will all of you just please shut up and listen to me for a moment?" Lan shouted while cutting off the little forehead girl's words and turned to face his five friends while blushing and pointing to the green emerald in his hand. "I don't know what kind of ideas that you guys think you have about this gem, but I originally got it from a huge trash pile that's just behind the school's cafeteria where a group of aliens are right at this very moment and are trying to take over the entire world!"

As he tried his best to calm himself, Lan soon started to notice that each of his friends gave him a look of confusion on his or her face. Then that was when his group of friends started to break the long silence by giving out a huge laughter that's so loud that it could be heard from all around the neighborhood. That was when Lan started to become annoyed and angry by the reaction that his friends gave about his explanation.

"What in the world are you guys laughing about!" Lan shouted to the laughing group as he began to have an angry expression on his face. "Don't you all believe me!"

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Sorry, Lan...it's just that...it's just that..," Tory began to respond to his questions as the boy tried his best to maintain the breathing of his lungs before bursting out into laughter again. "Ha! Ha! Ha! But what you just said to us is so farfetched!"

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Is that the best explanation that you could come up with, Lan!" Dex added as he continued to laugh his huge guts out. "Ha! Ha! Ha! No one would be able to believe a weird and made up excuse like that!"

"Ha! Ha! Ha! I'm sorry, Lan, but I have to agree with Dex on this one!" Maylu said as she tried her best to control her breathing. "What kind of person would believe something like that anyway! It's the lamest excuse since you told Ms. Mari the time about when Rush ate your homework! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

"Arf! Arf!" added in Rush while at the same time snickering at what the head-banded just said to all them a moment ago.

"But what I'm telling you guys is true!" Lan shouted angrily as he continued to hold out the near-completed emerald in his hand towards his friends. "When I first found and saw this emerald in the garbage, it was just a small gem piece. That small gem then suddenly started to glow with a bright green light and, before I knew it, these alien mutants appeared out of nowhere and...!"

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Yeah right, Lan!" Yai responded to the boy while trying her best to contain her laughter as she cut off his words. "There's no way that an ordinary-looking and broken emerald like that is able to transport alien beings from another world! What are you going to tell us next? That the ghosts of pirates are coming to Dentech City in order to get it! Please!"

"But I'm telling all of you that this green emerald is the cause of all this!" Lan said while giving out a pouting and annoyed tone in his voice. "You could all ask MegaMan for yourselves! He was with me for when those aliens appeared out of nowhere while this strange emerald gave out the strong green light! It even caused my P.E.T. to have a static field which made MegaMan lose communication with me which is weird 'cause the P.E.T. 3 is suppose to be made to go with any condition!"

However, when Lan grabbed onto his P.E.T. that's attached on his P.E.T. holder on his waist, there's only a blank screen that read 'Not in Service,' on it. "Whaaa! You got to be kidding me!" the angry boy said as he shook the Personal Terminal furiously. "MegaMan! Where in the world could you be whenever I needed you the most?"

Meanwhile, while in their personal meeting place in the Cyber Network of Dentech Academy, MegaMan was just finished explaining his latest experience with his companions Roll, Glyde, Guts Man, and Ice Man. After giving them all of the details, the blue bomber's friends started to question their friend's story with confusion on their pixel faces.

"MegaMan, are you feeling all right?" the pink Navi Roll asked as she placed her hand over the blue friend's forehead and scanned his data for any signs of corruption that could be the cause of what the blue Navi saw. "You must've had some sort of malfunction for when both you and Lan saw the so-called 'aliens.'"

"That's what I thought too for when Lan told me about those aliens before I saw them with my eyes," MegaMan responded to the pink Navi's words as he pulled her hand away from his forehead. "I even gave myself and the P.E.T. a full virus and diagnostic scan and found nothing that has inhabited my systems! Not even one bug! I feel perfectly fine! What I saw was the real thing! The strange mutant alligator that we saw had teeth that are so large and sharp that they would make Shark Man want to go to the dentist for a check up! And it spoke too!"

"That not what we thinks. Guts," Guts Man said as he answered with a skeptical tone of voice. "Guts Man think that puny blue boy saw was just illusion of some kind. Guts."

"I hate to say this, but Guts Man might be right about this," Ice Man added while giving out a long and deep sigh. "Can either you or Lan prove that those so-called 'aliens' really exist? Do you guys have any proof at all?"

"Well, I must say, I that too would have to find this story rather outlandish, MegaMan," Glyde said as the buttler Navi looked at the Blue Bomber with a confused look on his face. "Is there any physical evidence that could help support you in your case?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, we do, Glyde," MegaMan with a serious tone in his voice. "While on our way here, Lan found this weird-looking green emerald shard that glowed with a green light and it suddenly became bigger. It was at that time for when the aliens appeared out of nowhere and the emerald shard suddenly became a near-completed emerald. I'm telling all of you that this jewel is no ordinary gem because it emitted a powerful magnetic field that blocked off my communications link with Lan."

"Oh, really?" Roll replied with a skeptical tone in her voice, "And where is this so-called strange emerald that emits the powerful magnetic field that you told us about? It doesn't seem to me that it would've erased your memory banks like it would an ordinary computer system for when I've scanned you before."

"Lan has it right now," MegaMan said to his female Navi friend, "He's talking to the others about what we've saw and is showing them the emerald even as I speak. Look, go back to your own P.E.T.s and you'll soon see what I mean. I'm logging out right now!"

As the blue bomber started to log out of the meeting area, his friends all gave out a huge sigh and started to talk amongst themselves.

"(Sigh) My poor misguided MegaMan," Roll said as she gave out a sigh of worry. "Both he and Lan believe that those aliens of theirs exist. It's almost like that time for when Mega was scared silly for when he once believed in those pirate ghosts that Lan told to him once for when he was telling ghost stories one night."

"Pirate ghosts? Guts?" Guts Man asked the pink Navi as he began to scratch his head in confusion. "What you talking about, Roll? Guts."

"Roll, you must mean ghost pirates," Ice Man said as the little Navi approached her while clearing his throat. "(Ahem!) You see, a pirate ghost would suggest that a pirate died and then became a ghost. But a ghost pirate would suggest that a person died and later made a conscious decision to become a pirate."

"But then that would make them pirate ghosts," Roll replied to the little Ice Man as she started to have an annoyed tone in her voice a little.

"I don't think that your still don't understand me, Roll. You see, there is no known evidence of pirate bodies or sightings to be found in or anywhere near Dentech City or any other country," Ice Man shot back with a louder tone of voice as he himself was starting to become annoyed with the Navi girl's argument. "So these must be ghosts that decided to become pirates after the fact. Therefore, that would make them ghost pirates."

"But then they would be known as pirate ghosts!" Roll shouted to the short Navi as she started to become angry with the growing argument.

"No! They would be ghost pirates!" Ice Man shot back as he started to become as annoyed and angry as Roll is now.

Before they could have the chance to launch each of their own attacks and start a Net Battle, both Glyde and Guts Man chose the time to intervene and they each started to hold back each Navi from attacking one another as the two other Navis began to say to each of their friends in order to try to calm them down.

"Roll! Ice Man! Calm down, you two!" Glyde said as he held the little Ice Man by the arms. "Now isn't the time to start arguing about this! Right now, that should be the least of our concerns!"

"Glyde right! Guts!" Guts Man said as he used his huge body as a wall in order to block Roll's view of her opponent. "Guts Man and others have other things to worry about! Like following crazy little MegaMan back to our P.E.T.s! Guts! Besides, my head hurts!"

Meanwhile, back in the world outside of the Cyber World, Lan started to turn his attention back towards his friends and started to become nervous for when he saw the suspicious and cock-eyed looks while continuing to have a smile on each of their faces. The head-banded Net Battler was still feeling a bit annoyed for when his friends laughed at his story. But he was also feeling a bit nervous about what they're going to say next. Before anyone could have a chance to say another word in order to break the long silence, MegaMan's voice suddenly started to shout out while startling his Net Operator at the same time as the boy looked at his P.E.T. with a annoyed looked on his face.

"Hey, Lan! What's going on around here? And what's up with your face?" MegaMan began to ask as soon as he reappeared back on the screen of the P.E.T. "It looks as though you were being accused of stealing chocolate brownies from the school cafeteria again!"

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Very funny!" Lan responded to his blue friend with a sarcastic and annoyed tone of voice before he started to speak again. "Well, while you were off meeting with your friends, I'm here trying to explain to the guys that I'm not lying about seeing those aliens that we saw!"

"Okay! Okay! There's no need for you to shout at me, Lan! I can hear you perfectly fine! Sheesh!" MegaMan responded to the boy while covering the places on his helment where his ears would be. "You're not the only one who's got problems trying to convince everyone that we saw those aliens! When I've talk with the guys about what just happened, they wouldn't believe me either! Now they think that I'm just plain crazy!"

When his Net Navi friend said those words, Lan started to hear his friends starting to comment about the situation.

"Lan, I think that maybe MegaMan might be suffering from a system error," Maylu said while a mutual tone. "Did you maybe, by any chance, dropped your P.E.T. that caused MegaMan to have a..?"

"No! I did not, Maylu!" the boy shouted to his female friend as he began to become annoyed by the question while pointing to the green gem stone. "For your information, he just happened to be with me, unharmed mind you, for when this emerald appeared from within the garbage pile of the cafeteria before the aliens appeared with their...!"

"Lan Hikari! Where in the world have you been!" the boy heard the voice of his teacher Ms. Mari shouting to from within the halls. "You should know better than to shout out loud in the classroom like that! Where have you been that took you so long that..!"

Before the woman with the bun-shaped hair could finish her words, the green near-completed emerald that Lan has in his hands suddenly started to glow brighter and brighter without warning as it blinded everyone from within the room. Everyone inside the room started to shout out loud as they continued to be blinded by the light that the green gem emitted.

While waiting for the ten minutes to pass by, Miguel listened to Vector give his lecture to the shrine maiden Sylphiel, who listened very carefully to the green croc's every word. The teen sweatdropped for when he heard the next words that the crocodile said next.

"Okay, babe. Now here's the next thing you should know," Vector said with a calm and cool tone of voice, "When you want to know whether or not the homeboy's trying to hit on you for the wrong reason, he should be saying something like 'Yo, girl! That's a nice body that you have there! Care to join me in my crib!' in a crazy tone of voice. Now, if you want to speak with any of your homegirls, you should be saying something like 'Yo, my home girls! How's it hanging!' Now, if a girl would try to say something like that to you, you should respond by saying..."

As the lecture continued on, Miguel began to chuckle a bit to himself at the thought of Sylphiel saying the words that Vector was explaining to her. He then looked at his watch and checked the time. It was only about five minutes since the green crocodile began his lecture with the girl and Vector was already at how to greet people in slang.

_"Now that's a good title for Vector's new book. 'Adequate on how to Speak in the 'Hood.' _he thought as he smiled to himself while he continued to listen to the green crocodile continuing to give his talk with the shrine maiden. _"I wonder how Sonic and the others would take it for when they find something different about Sylphiel? Will they be in for a surprise for when they hear her saying, 'Waz up, my homies?' to them for the first time. I bet that they would be scared from the shock. Hee! I really can't wait for that to hap..."_

That was when Miguel's thoughts were soon cut short for when he felt a sudden jolt of energy crawling up from his spine and spread throughout his entire body. The human teen then found himself scanning all around the area searching for the source of the great energy that he just felt.

"Guys, I think that we might have to cut these adequate lessons short and save them for later! Right now, I'm sensing a great deal of Chaos Energy that's coming from inside the building that we're close to!" Miguel began to shout as he finally recognized the energy that he was feeling while turning his attention towards Sylphiel, "Sylphiel, did you feel it too?"

He saw the shrine maiden responded to his question by looking around and gave out a surprised gasp for when she finally found what he was talking about. "I did, Miguel!" she said to him as she became as surprised and aware as Miguel was feeling now, "I've felt it from the direction that you said it came from! The Chaos Emerald must be somewhere inside that building!"

"Then what are we doing here just acting like a bunch of lumps!" Miguel heard the voice of Vector saying as he turned and saw the green crocodile starting to run out towards the entrance of the alleyway. "Let's go get that emerald before the wrong home boys managed to see it, not to mention get even with the twerps that called me a mutant alligator!"

"Yo, Vec! Wait up!" the human heard Mighty beginning to say to his green friend while seeing the armadillo chasing after him, "We shouldn't be going out on the open like that! What if..!"

Before the armadillo's words could set in, Miguel saw that Vector was already running out of the alley before his black and orange friend could finish the last words of his sentence.

"(Sigh!) Looks as though that there's no way that we could talk Vector on waiting for a plan," Miguel heard Mighty said with an annoyed sigh as he saw the armadillo walking towards the same direction as the green crocodile was heading before he was out of sight.

When they were all alone, Miguel started to hear the voice of the Sylphiel saying to him with a concerned tone, "Miguel, we have to follow them. You said so yourself that if we allow that Chaos Emerald to run loose, then strange and unpredictable things might happen that could endanger this entire world as well as the people in it."

For when he had heard those words come out of the shrine maiden's mouth, Miguel turned his attention towards her face and said to her with a nod of his head, "You're right, Sylphiel. Let's go and catch up with Vector and Mighty so that we could lead the way. We have a better chance of finding the Chaos Emerald than they do. Besides, we have to keep Vector from killing those kids somehow."

While seeing a smile appearing on her face, Sylphiel suddenly started to tug on Miguel's arm and said to him, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's make like a tree and leave!"

As he was being tugged by the shrine maiden, Miguel began to chuckle a bit for when he heard those words come out of the priestess's mouth. _"I guess that Vector's little lecture with Sylphiel actually worked," _he thought to himself while being dragged on by the purple and long-haired girl's hands as a sweatdrop appeared behind his head. _"Only that she was suppose to say, 'Let's make like bananas and split.' I guess that she's just not used to saying that kind of language to people in this world befo..."_

Miguel's thoughts were then cut off for when he realized that he was inside of the building of where the Chaos Energy that he'd felt was being emitted. He began to look around and saw that the building looks to be like a junior high school with lockers down its hallways. Miguel then started to notice that the hallways were empty and deserted, meaning that classes in this school have ended long ago since they've arrived. However, that wasn't what got the young man's attention. One of the signs, that he soon began to read, said 'Halloween Horror Night at 8:00 p.m. being held at Dentech Academy Tonight.'

_"Dentech Academy!" _Miguel thought to himself as the realization of the thought hit him hard like a ton of bricks. _"Holy crap! Then that would mean that this world is the home of...!"_

His thoughts were soon cut short for when he heard Sylphiel's voice saying to him, "Miguel, I've found the place where the Chaos Emerald is being held at! We should hurry up and get there before something strange and unusual happens!"

Miguel gave out a nod in response to the shrine maiden and followed in the direction where she was running towards to. _"If this world is the place that I think it is," _he thought to himself as he followed Sylphiel up the a case of stairs, _"then I wouldn't be the only person that would be surprised to see strange things that came from another dimension as well as other beings from another world."_

While exploring the skies of the city below him, Charmy was carefully flying across the skies of the city that he was looking at. The young bee is also careful that he didn't attract any unwanted attention that he might get by the human people from within the buildings who might be watching through the windows by flying at a high speed and avoiding the windows on each of the buildings.

_"Geez! This is like finding a needle in a haystack!" _Charmy thought to himself as he continued to fly around the city while avoiding the windows of the buildings. _"Those two kids holding shards of the Chaos Emerald could be anywhere in this huge city! _

_"I know that Vector said that we should only look around the city to see where we are, but this is just plain boring! I should've been better off staying with the guys. Man, I wish that a clue or something would just turn up and allow me to...!"_

As if responding to the young bee's request, Charmy suddenly saw a bright pillar of emerald green light erupting from the direction that he just came from.

"What in the world?" he shouted as he saw the light continuing to shine with its green brilliance shooting from the window of the building like a laser beam. "That huge light is coming from a Chaos Emerald and its being emitted from the place where I left the gang last! I'd better get back there before...!"

Before the bee could finish the rest of his sentence, he suddenly started to notice another beam of emerald light shooting in the direction opposite from the one that he saw first. He could see that the second light that he saw is smaller than the first one that he saw from where he left the others.

_"That beam of light is the same kind of light that I've saw coming from the place that Vector and the others are in now," _Charmy thought as he looked back and forth, deciding which direction to go. _"Judging from the size of the first one that I've saw, I'd say that it's where all the rest of the emerald shards are being held. _

_"Which means that the second beam must be another small fragment of the Chaos Emerald. I could just go to that place and check it out. But without either of the guys to help me out, I'm a sitting duck! I guess that there's only one thing for me to do!"_

Finally making up his mind, Charmy decided to take his chances by going down to the ground nearest where he saw the weaker pillar of green light being shot out from so that way he could get a better look at what was really happening over the area.

While exploring the city streets while in his Stealth Mode, Espio carefully scouted the streets and the tall buildings in order to find information on what city that they were in. As the chameleon carefully explored the city while hanging on the walls of the huge buildings while not making a sound, he looked around and saw that the people of the city were as modern and normal as the people of Miguel's world. However, as he took a closer look at the citizens' activities, Espio noticed that the technology was a bit more advanced than Miguel's world would ever be.

As he sneaked pass the unknowing people of the city, the invisible chameleon thought to himself as he carefully snuck around the alleys in between the buildings, _"Well, so far on my search is that I now know that the city's name is Dentech City. Secondly, I know that this city's technology is a bit more advanced than that of Miguel's world for when I saw it for the first time along with the guys saw it. Only thing left for me to do is to just get back to the others and..."_

Before he could have a chance to finish his thoughts, Espio was suddenly startled for when he saw the appearance of a pillar of emerald green light appearing out and up towards the sky. That was when the invisible chameleon started to climb up a few more feet of the building that he was on in order to get a better look.

_"That green pillar of light! It's coming from a Chaos Emerald!" _the chameleon thought to himself as he watched the nearby people watching the scene developing in front of them. _"It's also coming from the place where Vector and the others are still at and judging from the size of the light, I'd say that all of the shards of the Chaos Emerald are together in that place! I'd better get back before..."_

That was when Espio's thoughts were interrupted for when he heard one of the voices of the citizens shouting out while the chameleon saw the woman pointing to the opposite direction, "Everybody look at those two twin green pillar of light! They're both emitting a powerful magnetic field that's messing with the TV screens of every one of the buildings! Look!"

When he heard those words coming from the woman's mouth, Espio started to look at the direction that the she was looking at and saw what she meant for when he saw that there was another pillar of emerald light.

_"Whoa! Now I've seen everything!" _the purple chameleon thought to himself as he watched the bright but smaller tower of green light. _"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that the other pillar of light must be coming from another small shard of the Chaos Emerald. Perhaps I should go check it out and see for myself before anyone around this area decides to check it out for themselves. Besides, I'm sure that Charmy was able to see that pillar of light and would be curious enough to check it out." _

With those words of his mind said and done, Espio started to leap from the building that he was on and clung onto the next one close to it. The purple yet invisible chameleon kept on leaping from building to building in order to get to his destination before anyone else could get there.

While watching the events of the alternate universe unfold from within a dimension between time and space, the powerful and liquified creature Nightmare Parasite sensed the powers of the Chaos Emerald flowing from within its red and black body.

_"Hee! Hee! Hee! This has become very interesting!" _the Chaos clone thought to itself as it watched the invisible chameleon leaping to the place that it also saw the small young bee flying to while watching the two humans, Miguel and Sylphiel, running after the armadillo and crocodile. _"Both humans are running towards the location of the near-completed Chaos Emerald while two of the Mobian members of the Chaotix run around in circles while their other two comrades go towards the direction of the last emerald shard. _

_"Now would be the perfect time to release one of my resurrected minions to this dimension and show both the two humans and the Mobians, as well as the planet, one of my most unique and powerful special abilities: the ability to resurrect the dead at will just by taking a small sample of that being's DNA. Even a molecule of the being's entire genetic structure is enough for me to use to restore that being's body back to their former state as well as pulling their soul from the underworld to bring them back to life. Soon both that foolish human Miguel and his female companion, Sylphiel, will live to regret ever to have crossed my path._

_"I will never forget that day: my first defeat at the hands of those two humans. But also on that day, just before my so-called death, I told those two that I'm a living nightmare that could never be destroyed and will one day return to have my vengeance. But now is not the right time for my reappearance for I am still not ready to face them. For now though, I'd rather send in one of Diol's experimental servants that I helped to bring back to life to go into that realm and retrieve that emerald so that it might be of some help with my plans for universal domination. I could also send him to that world in order to see how powerful a resurrected being could be for when its cells are infused with my own."_

That was when the liquified creature began to call forth one of its minions by shouting out by its name, "Dilgear, former servant of the Red Priest Rezo, come to me!"

As soon as the Chaos clone had said that name, appearing out of the darkness came a werewolf-like man who wore clothing like that of a bandit of Earth's medieval times. When the part man part wolf creature finally appeared in front of the Nightmare Parasite's presense, gave him an annoyed look before he spoke.

"What do you want from me, creature?" said Dilgear as he mock bowed before the black and red liquid creature while showing the loyalty to it like that of a dog to its master. "Isn't it bad enough already for you to bring me back to life using my corpse and soul for your own purposes?"

"Hee! Hee! Hee! You're in a rather bad and arrogant mood, aren't you?" Parasite answered with its usual hissing voice despite while smiling to itself, "You dared to speak to me in that tone of voice of yours and yet I could have your resurrected corpse torn apart with just a single thought of my mind. But instead, just so that you might be a little more cooperative with me, I have a task that I think you might be interested in."

"Ha!" the werewolf replied to the liquid creature word while keeping the arrogance in his voice, "and why, I may ask, is worth bringing me back from the dead so that I could only live to serve you?"

"What if I were to tell you that your reward for doing this task is a shot at revenge at the one who had you executed by his servants, Zolf and Radimus?" Nightmare Parasite asked with a cunning hissing tone of voice. "The chimera named Zelgadis Greywords.

"The two that performed your execution were already slain by the resurrected piece of the Dark Lord, Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo. But Zelgadis still lives along with his two companions, Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev. Along in their travels, they've made friends with two female companions: Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, crowned princess of the Royal House of Seyruun; and Sylphiel Nels Lahda, former shrine maiden of the now destroyed city of Siaraag."

The werewolf man soon began to become interested in what the Chaos clone had said for when it mentioned the name of his former comrade and now enemy, Zelgadis Greywords. "Just tell me the task that I have to get done so that I may have my revenge on that worthless chimera," Dilgear began to say with a less arrogant tone as he started to show interest in the Nightmare Parasite's offer.

With an evil smirk on its face that the wolf man even didn't notice, the Nightmare Parasite began to say to the resurrected creature with its usual tone of voice, "Hee! Very well then, I'll get right to the point. I actually have for you two tasks: one is to retrieve a huge green gem stone that is called the Chaos Emerald from another plane of existence; and the other is for you to eliminate one of the two female companions that I've mentioned to you before, Sylphiel Nels Lahda.

"But don't worry yourself about having to find the Chaos Emerald, Dilgear. I have enhanced your body with a sixth sense that could help you hunt down and locate the emeralds with little effort by sniffing out its great cosmic power with your nose, thus allowing you to track its trail for when I've brought your corpse back to life. As for the second task, the young woman Sylphiel isn't alone in the place that she's in now. She has with her a group of companions that are from another world who are known by the name of 'the Chaotix'. The shrine maiden is also accompanied by a human from a world that is a bit similar to the one that I've brought you from, but a bit more advanced. A young male human that goes by the name Miguel Angel Arias. I want you to confront these fools and kill them so that way you could have a taste of the revenge that would be in store for Zelgadis and I would have nothing to stand in my way."

"What's there to be scared of a young human boy and the shrine maiden along with this group that call themselves the Chaotix?" Dilgear asked its benefactor with a curious look on his wolf-like face, "They sound like a bunch of weaklings to me. Those tasks sound like a piece of cake to deal with."

"Don't let their appearances fool you, werewolf," Nightmare Parasite responded to Dilgear's words with a harsh sounding tone of its hissing voice, "The shrine maiden herself has proven herself worthy and powerful in fighting me before alongside with the young male Earth human and is growing more powerful overtime. Miguel, who himself has a power beyond your imagination, has once fought and defeated my creator: the sorcerer named Ixis Naugus. Both he and the girl are responsible for handing me my first and only defeat. As for the Chaotix, these creatures have already proven themselves worthy in fighting beings that have powers that are almost awesome as that of Gods and Monsters themselves by defeating one of the pieces of my body.

"But to ensure our victory against them, I have resurrected and also enhanced your body so that you could be prepared and an equal match to face those fools in battle for if you've encountered them. You would have powers that are beyond the chimera methods and designs that your dead master, Rezo, has endowed you with. However, just to be sure of your victory, I have decided to take one of the myths of an alternate dimension's stories and bring in reinforcements for you just to even the odds."

"And just exactly what kind of reinforcements do you have in mind for this situation?" the werewolf asked with a skeptical tone as he waited for the creature to answer.

"Just wait and see for yourself, werewolf," answered the Chaos clone as it no longer spoke and it dropped about ten to fifteen pieces of itself to the dimension's hard floor. As its pieces hit the ground, the blobs of red and black liquid soon began to grow bigger and started taking human shapes.

When the once small pieces of Nightmare Parasite finally emerged in their fully formed bodies, their creator began to giggle a bit for as it spoke, "Now those fools, as well as the entire city of Dentech, will soon experience the true meaning of my powers for the first time for when I unleash it upon this dimension! If the foolish human boy as well as his friends want to see the ghosts of pirates, then that's what they'll get!"

The liquid creature then turned its three-eyed attention back towards the werewolf, who was staring at the human creatures that it created, and said to him, "Dilgear, I want you to go and lead my pirate ghost army into this dimension and seize the Chaos Emerald as well as eliminate my enemies! If anyone else ever tries to get in the way of your mission, then...Hee! Hee! Hee! Well, it's their own bad luck."

While snapping himself out of his surprised gaze, Dilgear finally responded to Nightmare Parasite by nodding his head towards its direction and walked out of the dark dimension along with the human-like ghosts that the creature had brought from the underworld. As soon as it saw the part werewolf and part troll out of its sight, the liquified creature heard the voice of one Shade the Red Shadow speaking to his creator with a calm and obedient tone.

"Master Parasite, are you sure that it's wise to let this first resurrected and enhanced beast to go to that world where both my genetic parents and their friends are? They could easily defeat him for if he fails in his mission as well as those ghosts of pirates that you've brought back. After all, he is the first successful minion that you've brought back from the void."

Instead of his master/creator answering his question, a voice soon erupted in between the two for when he realized that it was none other than the person that brought his two other brethren to life. "I wouldn't worry too much about it too much, Shade," Professor Diol said to the vampire as his short and old form appeared before his and Parasite's presense. "You see, just before Lord Parasite could bring that former werewolf of Rezo's back from beyond, it met me. I'd agree to help Parasite to maintain its body as well as gather all of the essence necessary to be restored to its natural state.

"Of course, right after Lord Parasite was able to grant me all of the knowledge as well as the power and equipment that I need, I did my best to gather some of the most powerful essences of Monster or Dragons. As it turns out, it was enough to restore it to nearly restore it to its original state, but not completely at the time. However, it was enough for Lord Parasite to be able to bring back one of the creatures that was recently slain by a sorcerer and a warrior. That creature was Dilgear."

"Hee! Hee! Hee! You are certainly right about that, my friend," Nightmare Parasite said to the old sage as it began to hover towards both Shade and Diol. "You see, Shade, right after my first battle with both you genetic parents, Miguel and Sylphiel, I was but a mere cell. But overtime, I was able to reassemble myself for when the cells of my entire body began to merge with one another like a mind-hive of a ant colony. Hee! Hee! Hee! You see, no matter how much those two humans try, I can never be truly destroyed. Even a molecule of my body is enough to allow me to come back to life.

"As soon as a part of my body was put back together, I began to search throughout the universe for the perfect person to help me to restore my body back into its former state. That's the time for when I've met Professor Diol and promised him anything that he would desire in exchange for helping me."

"But what does this wolf Dilgear have to do with anything, Master Parasite?" Shade asked his master with a curious tone just before he heard the old sage Diol answering his question.

"Well Shade, right after my agreement with Lord Parasite, we were both transported into the dimension that we're in now and then it began to infuse my very body with the powers of its cells. At the time, I had little time left before I could pass on to the next world, but Lord Parasite's powers changed all that. When I was infused with those cells that it gave me, I felt knowledge and powers beyond that of old ones passing through me as well as receiving an extended least on life.

"But as per the agreement, I had to travel through various continents and countries in order to find what Lord Parasite needed to be whole again. I was amazed at the creatures that I've encountered throughout my entire journey across the outer territories of my world. However, I was able to get the DNA cells as well as spiritual essences and powers needed in order to try to restore the Lord back to its former state. As time progressed, I felt that there has to be a faster method into bringing more DNA and spiritual essence for Lord Parasite to be restored. That was when I've stumbled upon Dilgear's dead and decease body lying in an old abandoned town that appears to be attacked about decades ago.

"When I've first presented him to Lord Parasite, it asked me why did I bring a carcass like his in front of his presence. That was when I've proposed the method of bringing not only his body back to life but to conduct an experiment that I've had in my mind since I was first endowed with the advanced knowledge of genetics and technology. That was when Lord Parasite took me into a the room where your two brethren generals Drakon and Shogar were created before bringing them into existence. With the equipment and knowledge, I was able to enhance Dilgear's natural and created abilities that even he was unaware of."

"You're correct about that, Professor Diol," Nightmare Parasite Chaos said to the aged sage for when it turned its full attention back towards the screens that's filled with the images of its enemies while talking to its vampire creation. "You see, Shade, just before Dilgear was even awakened, I allowed Diol to make a few...adjustments to his entire genetic structure thanks to the infinite knowledge and equipment that I've granted him. Without realizing it, Dilgear has become the first of one of many of the new Nightmare Soldiers that I'm building for my army! Are those fools Miguel and Sylphiel as well as the Chaotix going to be in for a surprise for when the face a terror far beyond their nightmares. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

As he continued to scan the cyber network to look for the energy source that he desired, Bass suddenly came to a stop for when he began to sense a huge amount of energy that was flowing all over his body.

_"The energy has revealed itself once again!" _the Black Shadow thought to himself as he was becoming curious about the energy's sudden reappearance. _"This is very strange. Why would it suddenly reappear after disappearing from my sight a while ago? I guess that it doesn't matter now. What matters is that I track it down before it eludes my sights once again. It's coming from the Cyber Matrix of DenTech City. I better get back there before I lose the energy source completely." _

With those thoughts done in his mind, Bass started to travel through the Cyber World's link. However, just as he was about to reach towards the source of energy surge that he felt, the Black Shadow Navi soon found himself coming to a stop for when he felt another surge of energy coming from out of nowhere. It was different from the one that he was chasing after.

_"What was that energy that I'm feeling?" _the cloaked Navi thought to himself as he was curious about what the other energy surge that he felt. _"It's the same feeling that I've felt that for when I was trying to look for the great source of power the first time. It feels so terrifying and huge that it feels as though it could bend and rip the very fabric of time and space within this world to its purpose. _

_"Why am I feeling this way? I've never felt this horrified since I was defeated by the female Navi from space named Slur. Well, it doesn't matter now. All that matters is that I find that power source before it eludes me once again. Once I find it, I'll be able to face whatever was causing this horrifying force that I've felt. Nothing is going to get in my way from having my revenge! Navi or human, I will crush and destroy whatever gets in my way!" _

With those thoughts done in his mind, Bass continued his way towards the direction where he sensed the huge amount of energy that he felt coming towards DenTech City's server.

While running around the inside of the school, both Mighty and Vector were searching for source of the emerald green light that they saw burst out through the window.

"Man, Might! We've got to get to that emerald and fast!" Vector said to the black and orange armadillo while running up the stairway, "The light that we just saw has got to be coming from those Chaos Emerald shards that those two punks have took from us! We've got to move fast!"

"Whoa! Wait up, Vec!" Mighty responded to his green crocodile friend while running alongside him, "Shouldn't we wait for Miguel and Sylphiel to catch up with us first! I mean, those two do have the ability to track down the powers of the Chaos Emerald as well as Knux can! And you need to calm and not spaz out! So why don't we slow down and...!"

The armadillo's words were soon cut off by Vector saying, "That Chaos Emerald is starting to grow out of control with Chaos Energy, Might! If we just stand still and just let this happen, then we're all going to be in trouble! Besides, those two look like that they could get to the place before we could and are able to handle somthing like this themse...!"

The green croc's words were soon cut short for when he, while not looking, suddenly bumped into something that's almost as skinny and hard as a telephone pole. When Vector fell to the ground on his tail and rear, he began to shout out, "Man! Who in the world just bumped into me like that! When I find out who, I'm going to...!"

"Whoa! Chill out, Vector!" Mighty said as he walked up towards green crocodile so that he could pick his friend up, "It's not like the guy would want to do that to you on...!"

Before the armadillo could have the chance to finish the rest of his sentence, both he and Vector started to hear the shouts of someone yelling, "Ahhh! Talking mutant animals! What would the people around here think of next for Halloween costumes! Talking chickens!"

When the two Mobians turned towards the person's direction, they both saw that he was a male human who probably didn't use any hair gel or dandruff for that matter. He is also wearing a pair of glasses that make him look like some sort of nerd. The clothing that the man is wearing also matched the nerd-like look that he had all over his face for when he saw the two Mobians.

"(Ahem) Excuse me, you two," he began to say to both Mighty and Vector with a stern tone in his voice as he cleared his throat, "but you're not suppose to be in here without the authorized permission from the principal or any one of the teachers of this school in order to be here! Are you some of the performers that Miss Mari hired to perform for the Halloween Horror Night? Well, you should watch out where you're going! Do you have any idea that...?"

Before the man could have a chance to finish the rest of his question, the green crocodile started to yelled to him while opening his huge mouth, "Yo, man! Who do you think you're dealing with! You're the one who bumped into me and should start runnin' for when..!"

"Whoa! Easy, Vec! Chill out!" Mighty started to say to his friend as the orange and black armadillo began to grip onto the green croc's arms in order to hold him back from attacking the guy that he bumped into, "It's not like that the guy did that to you on purpose! Besides, we have other things to worry about! Like the Chaos Emerald!"

"What are you two talking about?" asked the man in a confused tone of voice for when he heard what the Mighty said, "Just what is this Chaos Emerald that you're talking about? Never mind that, just don't you two think that wearing shoes and other accessories to go with those costumes of yours is a little much? I mean, a crocodile wearing a golden chain around his neck and earphones? Now that is something a little too farfetched for anyone around here to start believing!"

When Vector finally started to calm down a little bit and was released from Mighty's grip, he soon started to turn to his friend and whispered to him while making sure that no one else is watching and listening as well as the guy, "Yo, Might! Keep down the volume! Do you realize that you've just mentioned the Chaos Emerald in front of the nerdy dude?"

"Well, how was I suppose to know when I was too busy holding onto your arms as if you were a wild bull?" Mighty whispered back to the crocodile with a sort of annoyed tone in his voice, "You were the one who planned to go medieval on the guy for bumping into you like that!"

"Well pardon me for being myself, man!" Vector responded to the armadillo as he spoke to his friend with a bit of sarcasm in his voice, "I didn't know that I needed your permission in order to talk to the weird nerdy dude in the glasses who just bumped into me! What...!"

Before the green crocodile could have the chance to start another sentence, Vector suddenly felt the hands of the nerdy-looking guy trying to pull his head off as if it were a mask. "Look you two, I don't know what exactly is going on around here, but you need to take off those ridiculous masks and show me who...!"

"Yo! Yo! Yo! What you doin' with my head, Nerdo!" the green crocodile shouted to the person who continued to grip onto his head like a mask. "If you don't let go of my head, I'm going to bite that big pile of hair off of your head like a sandwich!"

"Not until I see who's really behind the mask!" answered the guy as the person continued to keep a firm grip on Vector's head. "And for your information, pal, the name is Higsby, not Nerdo! Now if you and your friend don't show me who you really are right now, I'm going to report you to the proper authorities! Boy, is this mask on your head secured tight!"

"Sir! Would you please let go of Vector's head right this instant!" Mighty shouted to Mr. Higsby as he did his best to convince the man to let go of the green crocodile's head. "He really doesn't like it if you keep tugging on his head like a..."

The orange and black armadillo's words were suddenly cut off for when a streak of blue light suddenly appeared out of nowhere and when he, Vector, and the person named Higsby stopped their fighting in order to see what caused it, they were both shocked to find a group of human pirates surrounding them at every corner that they look. They also noticed the way that the pirates were almost easy to see through, as if they don't possess any physical bodies at all.

"Guys, I think that we might be in for some trouble!" Mighty started to say to both Vector and Higsby as the two of them looked at the group of pirates in front of them. "And am I just seeing things or do the the two of you see a bunch of ghosts dressed as pirates in front of your eyes?"

"I think that you might be right about what you just said, Might," the green crocodile responded to his friend as he pulled the human nerd off of his back and readied himself for a fight. "Well, whatever they are, this is the sort of thing that I'm looking forward to since our last adventure on Angel Island. Now let's take care of these fools so that we could continue onto our mission."

"Vec, I think that this is one of those times that we should just back away and start running away as fast as possible!" Mighty said to his green friend as the armadillo began to tug at his arm, "Besides, these things look as those they might be too much for us to handle on our own! If we just stick around here, we could only end up losing our lives!"

"Could the two of you please tell me what's going on around here?" the two members of the Chaotix heard the voice of the man called Higsby asking, "First, it's the you two showing up in those weird costumes and now these people appeared from within a green light wearing pirate costumes! What in the world is happening?"

"Look, man, if you expect to live to get those answers from us," Vector said to the man as he saw the band of pirates charging towards them, "then I would suggest that you start running out of here and let the two of us to lead the way! Now let's get going!"

With those words said and done, they both saw the human man named Higsby started to run out of the developing scene as he began to scream for help. As the two Mobians saw the strange guy leaving the hall without any hesitation, they both began to sigh in annoyance and instantly began to follow the nerd-like person as the pirate ghosts began to chase them at full speed while not noticing they didn't once attract the large group of 'pirates'attention.

**End of Part 2**


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

**Note to readers:** Now I would like to say to everyone that I'm sorry that I took so long to update this story, but I've been focusing all of my attention on trying to pass my C+ class that I didn't have all of the time that I thought I have. I hope that you all understand. I also would like to point out that for when I've dedicated my story to **Maxus-the-Fox**'s friend called **Fyro-15**, it turns out that it was nothing but a prank by someone named **Fenix91** in the site I can't believe that I've allowed myself to be tricked that easy by someone with a bad sense of humor. Anyway, I would like to thank the group named **Generation-A **for their continued support. I would also like to say that I have tried my best to make the pirates in this chapter as good as I could. I hope that you all like this next chapter. Oh, and birthday is today. That's it. Now enjoy!

As he tried his best to regain his eyesight, Lan started saying to everyone in the room as he rubbed his eyes in order to regain his full sight.

"Did you all see that! It's the same light that I was talking about from before!" the head-banded boy shouted as his eyesight started to return to him, "This emerald is the cause of it and it now shines with a strange green light! Now that all of you could be sure that it's not like any other jewel that any of you have ever saw!"

As he waited for a response, he heard his Net Navi starting to say to him with a calm and yet shocked tone in his voice.

"Whatever it is Lan, I think that it's stopped," Megaman responded to his operator just before Lan was finally able to regain his sight and looked at his Navi through his P.E.T.'s screen, "That emerald that you were holding caused the same magnetic field that cut off my cybernetic communication with you as it did before. Whatever force that gem just released seems to have an effect on all other electrical appliances near by it as well."

"Not to mention that it also cut off our way back into our own P.E.T.s as well," said the voice of the pink Navi Roll as she suddenly started to appear on the screen of Maylu's P.E.T., "Good thing that it faded like it did or otherwise we would've...!"

Before the pink Net Navi could have a chance to finish, Lan started to hear the voice of his teacher Ms. Mari saying out loud while at the same time seeing her trying to regain her eyesight, "Could someone please tell me what's going on around here? I was about to scold Lan for being late for the meeting when suddenly a bright light appeared out of nowhere and blinded my eyes!"

"It was all caused by that stupid green emerald that Lan has, Ms. Mari!" he heard Dex shouted out as he saw the huge kid continuing to rub on his eyes in order to regain his own sight. "Lan was showing us this strange but cool-looking emerald just before he told all about these strange looking aliens that...!"

That was all that he heard before hearing his brown-haired friend Tory saying to all of them with a sort of shaky and fearful tone of voice, "Uh, is it just me or does everybody else seeing a bunch of guys dressed in pirate costumes in this classroom right now?"

As soon as he had heard those words, the head-banded boy soon found himself looking all around the entire room and saw what appears to be a group of grown men wearing what appears to be pirate costumes. Lan also noticed that the people appeared with a green eerie aura surrounding their entire bodies. He then started to notice one final detail about them: the fact that their bodies appeared like that of ghosts.

"Uh, Lan? D..d..d..did Tory just say that there are pirate ghosts in the classroom?" Megaman asked his operator with a frighten tone in his voice as he tried to hide himself within the safety of the P.E.T.

"Well, whatever they are, they sure don't look friendly!" Dex responded to the blue Net Navi with the same frighten tone in his voice, "If all of you want my opinion, they look like pirate ghosts!"

"Pirate ghosts!" said Megaman with fright as the blue Navi ducked out of sight behind the screen of Lan's P.E.T. "Please somebody tell me that that's not true!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Megaman!" said the tiny Eskimo type Navi with a disguised tone of voice, "There's no way that those could be pirate ghosts and, for you information, they're called ghost pirates!"

"No, Iceman, they're pirate ghosts!" Lan heard Roll responding with a shout as the boy noticed the pink Navi's voice becoming a bit annoyed. "Just how many times do we have to go over this before...!"

"Now is not the time for the two of you to start arguing about this, Iceman!" Lan heard Tory saying to his Navi as he saw his friend lifting his own P.E.T. up his face, "Right now, we all have to concentrate on how to get out of here without having to deal with those weird-looking pirates!"

"Tory's right, Roll!" he heard the voice of his long time best friend saying to her Navi while at the same time feeling panicked about the situation. "We have to keep our heads together in order to find a way to get away from those pirate ghosts things or whatever they are!"

"Don't be ridiculous, you two!" Lan heard his teacher saying as he turned his attention towards her attention and saw Ms. Mari walking towards the group of pirates, "I'm sure that they're nothing but a bunch of trouble making young teenagers dressed up as ghost pirates or whatever they're called so that they could just scare a bunch of people and cause trouble! Okay everyone, the joke's over! If you all don't stop..!"

Before the teacher could have the chance to finish the rest of her sentence, as if responding to her question, one of the glowing green pirate began to take out his sword and swiped it towards Ms. Mari's direction. Fortunately, Dex was able to get her out of the way just in time before the sword's long and rusty looking blade could have a chance to slice through her or a part of her attire for school. That was when Lan heard his large friend began to talk to the one who attacked his teacher with his sword.

"Hey, buddy! You shouldn't be swiping a plastic sword at a teacher like that, even if she does give us a ton of homework!" Dex began to say to the strange glowing green figures with an angry tone while at the same time sounding brave. "Now, are all of you here to start some trouble or are you punks here to..!"

As if responding to the balled man's question, Lan saw the same pirate who swung his rusty-looking sword at Ms. Mari began to swipe his blade towards the huge fat kid. Luckily, the sword just barely missed him by an inch just before it could have made contact considering his size. In response to this, Lan began to ask the pirate fiends that just attacked that looked as if he were a deranged psycho.

"Hey, pal! What's your problem!" the boy shouted to the glowing green pirate, "There's no need for you to start a fight and swing your plastic sword at Dex and Ms. Mari like tha...!"

Before he could finish the rest of his sentence, Lan started to see the pirate turning his full attention towards him and said to him, "Arrr! Now listen here, land lover! We don't take orders from young know-it-all lads like you or a woman with buns on her head! We only came here for that emerald that you're holding onto! Now hand it over or you and your land lovin' friends are going to walk the plank over the seas of time for all eternity!"

When the boy heard those words come out of the pirate's mouth, Lan soon began to think to himself while looking at the near-complete emerald in his hand, _"Those creeps are after the emerald that I have in my hands? Now I know that I'm losing it or I must be having a dream and sleeping in my bed while MegaMan is trying to get me up for school! But then why...?"_

Before he could have a chance to finish his thought, Lan began to hear the shouts of one of his friends. Before he realized that the scream came from Maylu, Lan was suddenly attacked by the pirate that tried to slash his sword at Ms. Mari and Tory. Luckily, the sword blade that the strange pirate slashed with missed him by a hair, literally. When the boy recovered from the assault that the green glowing pirate delivered, he immediately began to put two and two together as he began to shout out to everyone in the room.

"That sword isn't made of plastic! It's the real thing!" Lan shouted to everyone in the room as he saw the same pirate that slashed at him slowly walking up towards his direction as the green glow around the man began to grow brighter.

"Arr! Alright, land lover!" the pirate began to speak to Lan as he or it pointed his rusted blade at the boy's throat, "I'll give you one chance to hand over that Chaos Emerald that you have in your hand. Gaarrrr! If you do that, then you along with all of your little friends could go free without any harm and won't have to hear from us ever again."

"Chaos...Emerald?" Lan began to ask the pirate with a confused look on his face as he pointed to the near completed green gem, "You mean that's the name of this jewel over here? What's so important about..?"

Before he could finish the rest of his sentence, Lan heard the voice of his blue Net Navi saying to him while still shaken with fear. "Lan! Just do what that pirate says and give him that emerald!" MegaMan said to his operator while Lan saw that the Navi still hid behind the screen of the P.E.T. 3 for protection, "If you don't, then you won't know what could happen to all of us! Besides, he's still giving me the creeps!"

"Arrrrrgh! I would do what your little blue friend in the blue box says, little boy," the pirate said to Lan with an evil looking grin on his bearded face, "If you refuse to co-operate with us, then I'm going to have the rest of my friends to..."

As if to finish the rest of his threat, Lan saw the glowing green pirate began point his index finger towards a plant that Ms. Mari had on the brown desk on days that he would normally sleep through class. Before the boy knew what was happening, he saw a beam of intense green light shoot out from tip of the finger and vaporized the green plant that was once on the wooden desk. As he was frozen still at the sight that he witnessed, Lan began to quiver a bit in fear as he saw the pirate beginning to point his index finger at him.

"Well, what is it going to be, matey?" the pirate asked him as he continued to eye Lan with a menacing look on his ugly looking face, "Are you going to hand over that emerald to me or suffer? Or rather, maybe all of us should make your friends suffer for your wrong choice. Arrr! It seems as though you have no other choices to go by. You have two minutes! Arr! Har! Har! Har!"

With those words said and done by the pirate, Lan thought hard about what to do in his situation. _"Man! This is the most intense situation that I've been in!" _he thought to himself as he began to watch helplessly as the pirates began to pull out their swords and pointed them towards every one of his friends, _"This is even worse than all of those times that I've have to face World Three, Gospel, Nebula, and Neo World Three put together. _

_"But then again, who says it has to be? That creepy ghost pirate said that if I hand over this Chaos Emerald to him, then he and the rest of those creepy ghosts would just go away. Guess that makes the decision pretty obvious then."_

With his thoughts done, Lan began to turn his full attention back towards the ghost pirate leader as he extended his arm with the green emerald inside his hand.

"Alright, then," the boy began to say to the green glowing pirate as he walked closer to the goon with the emerald in hand, "once I hand this emerald to you, would you and the rest of your pirate group leave me and my friends alone and never come back?"

"Arrrrrgh! Of course we would, matey," the pirate responded to Lan's question with a smirk on his bearded green face, "Just hand over the emerald and I promise that we'll just disappear like a bad dream. Isn't that right, boys?"

As a response, Lan heard the voices of the other ghost-like pirates responding with an, "Arrrrrgh!" along with a nod all together in unison. With a big gulp of his throat, the boy began to walk closer to the pirate leader as his hand with the green emerald in his hand came closer with green hand of the pirate's.

Just before he could have a chance to drop the green gem into the hands of the leader, Lan suddenly started to hear the voice of a young man shouting to him, "No, kid! Don't listen to what that ghost guy says to you! If you give that emerald to that guy, this world is doomed with you and your friends along in it!"

"What the...!" was all Lan could shout out before he began to back away from the ghost pirate leader with the emerald still in his hand as he looked around the room to see who was the person that shouted to him.

Lan looked at his group of friends that the rest of the now-bewildered green ghost pirates held hostage and began to wonder about the voice that shouted to him just now. He knew that the voice sounded male so it couldn't be either Maylu, Yai, or Ms. Mari. He also noticed that the voice sounded like that of a teenager's so then he ruled out both Tory, Dex, and Rush since the cyber dog isn't even human. Before he could think more about the voice, Lan heard the voice of the his blue friend MegaMan shouting to him while still having a spooked tone in his voice.

"Lan! What in the world is happening over there?" shouted MegaMan from within the P.E.T. as Lan grabbed the personal terminal and looked at the screen with the blue Navi appearing while still quivering a bit in fear. "Why didn't you just hand that emerald over to that pirate so that this nightmare would end? Why did you listen to that shouting voice anyway?"

Before the boy could answer his blue friend's question, he heard the voice of the pirate leader shouting to him with an annoyed tone in his voice, "Arrrrrgh! Don't just stand there, laddy! Just give me that emerald and we'll leave you and all of your friends alone like we promised!"

Lan started to turn his full attention towards the pirate leader with the realization of the truth that he heard in the young man's words. The young boy soon came to the conclusion that the green ghost or the rest of his gang would just kill him and the rest of his friends as soon as they got what they wanted. The shouting of the male teen that he heard just confirmed Lan's suspicion. But he couldn't tell if the voice that shouted to him was either on the side of good or with the ghost pirates. However, it didn't change the fact that his friends were being held hostage by a bunch of ghosts dressed as pirates.

_"Man! I don't know what to do!" _Lan thought to himself as he looked helplessly at his friends still being held captive by the green phantom pirate group with their swords pointed at them while gripping the partly-completed emerald in his hand in confusion. _"Now that I know that these bunch of rip-offs for Black Bread's crew would kill all of us either way, I don't have a clue of what to do! If only there was...!"_

Before Lan could have a chance to finish the rest of his thoughts, he heard the voice of the pirate leader saying to one of the members of his group, "Arrrrrgh! I'm starting to grow impatient with these little game! Mr. Bones! Bring in the girl with the pink reddish hair to me!"

At first the boy was confused about who the pirate leader was talking about. That was when the answer suddenly came to him in the form of one of the pirates, who was nothing but a skeleton with a pirate costume and sword, bringing in Maylu from within the group of his friends.

"Maylu!" Lan shouted with shock as he saw the moving skeleton pulling Maylu towards the leader's direction and scowled at him. "You coward! Let her go! I'm the one that you're dealing with, not her!"

"Arrrrr! Well, it seems that the lad here has a soft spot for this little lady, fellas. Arrrrr! Arrrrr! Arrrrr!" the green pirate leader said with a laugh as Lan saw him grabbing the red-haired girl, "If that guy wants to see this girl in one piece then he would have no choice but to hand over that Chaos Emerald to me right this instant."

With those words finished by the leader, Lan was about to willingly hand over the near-completed emerald within his hand to the pirate leader when he saw a sudden eruption of green light appearing out of nowhere. Then, before he could have a chance to figure out what was happening, Lan saw a beam of intense green energy shot out of nowhere and freed Maylu from the ugly ghost's grip as it torn through his hand.

Sylphiel and Miguel both continued to run towards the place where they detected the strong disturbance of Chaos Energy that they've both felt for when the two of them were in the back of the building before. But on the way, Sylphiel noticed that her friend Miguel was feeling a bit tense as they both continued to run towards the source of the great amount of Chaos Energy.

_"He did seem a bit shocked for while we were running," _the shrine maiden thought to herself as she stood by her male friend with a look of concern as both she and Miguel looked over at the open door. _"He looks as though he had seen this world from before. But that shouldn't be possible since he hasn't actually been here before. I guess..."_

Before the shrine maiden could have a chance to finish the rest of her thoughts, she suddenly found herself cease running as she saw Miguel stopping in his place. Sylphiel then saw her male friend beginning to slowly walk up towards an open door. As she walked up slowly behind Miguel who was looking at the door, the shrine maiden began to wonder why he stopped and looked at the door that was open in front of him. Before she could ask about what was going on, Miguel started to gently cover her mouth with his hand before he began to whisper to her.

"Shh! Listen to what's happening over there, Sylphiel," he said to Sylphiel with a quiet tone of voice as he carefully leaned his ear close to the open door. "You'll soon see what I mean for when you hear what they're saying."

The shrine maiden obeyed by leanning in her own ear right next to her friend as she began to listen in on what Miguel was listening to. What she heard was the voice of what appears to be a bandit talking to a person.

"Arr! Alright, land lover!" Sylphiel heard the voice of a man saying to someone with a terrible and crooked voice, "I'll give you one chance to hand over that Chaos Emerald that you have in your hand. Grrr! If you do that, then you along with all of your little friends could go free without any harm."

"Chaos...Emerald?" the shrine maiden heard the voice of a young boy asking the bandit with a tone of confusion in his voice, "You mean that's the name of this jewel over here? What's so important about..?"

"Lan! Just do what that pirate says and give him that emerald!" she heard the voice of another boy saying to his companion as he sounded a bit frightened but also sounds like he were a recording as well, "If you don't, then you won't know what could happen to all of us! Besides, he's still giving me the creeps!"

"Arrrrrgh! I would do what your little blue friend in the blue box says, little boy" Sylphiel heard the voice of the person the evil and terrible sounding voice saying while using a menacing edge in his voice, "If you refuse to co-operate, then I'm going to have the rest of my friends to..."

As she listened to the sound of swords being unsheathed from their resting places, the shrine maiden soon realized that whoever the person with the terrible and menacing voice was talking to were the two young boys who took the Chaos Emerald shards. The same young boys that Vector was raving about before she and all the others were awake. Before she could have a chance to ask Miguel about the situation that was developing, her friend then shh'ed her for when he turned towards her direction before he started speaking.

"I think that there's trouble stirring up in that room over there, Sylphiel," Miguel whispered to her with a calm and yet, worried tone of voice, "It's..."

Just before she could hear her friend beginning to talk, his words were soon cut short for when the shrine maiden heard the voice of the evil person saying to the young boy while keeping the menacing edge in his voice.

"Well, what is it going to be, matey?" Sylphiel heard the voice of the man saying to one of the two young boys as she continued to lean next to Miguel in order to listen in on the conversation, "Are you going to hand over that emerald to me or suffer? Or rather, maybe all of us should make your friends suffer for your wrong choice. Arrr! It seems as though you have no other choices to go by. You have two minutes! Arr! Har! Har! Har!"

For the moment, the shrine maiden was terrified for when she heard those words come out of the strange man's mouth. She also noticed the same reaction from Miguel for when she heard him gasp with horror as he heard those words. Before Sylphiel could have a chance to speak, Miguel started to say to her while keeping a calm tone in his voice.

"Stay where you are, Sylphiel," her friend said as he held his hand to her and began to lean in closer to the open door, "I'm going to check and get a closer look at what's happening. From the looks of things, I'd say that we've found the kid with the Chaos Emerald shards. However, it seems that someone else besides the two of us and the Chaotix are after the emerald shards. Whatever they might be planning to do with them you can be pretty sure that it's not going to be good. I want you to get ready for anything in case something bad happens, okay?"

As a response to her friend's question, Sylphiel nodded her head towards Miguel and waited patiently as she watched Miguel lean in closer towards the open door in order to listen in on the situation at hand.

As he leaned in on the open door for a closer look at the situation that was developing, Miguel began to see what he had suspected of seeing.

_"Man! Just like I thought," _the young man thought to himself as he looked at the quiet scene in front of his eyes, _"Me, Sylphiel, and the Chaotix were transported into the world of the MegaMan NT Warrior/Exe. Rockman anime series takes place. What I'm also seeing is Lan Hikari holding a nearly-completed Chaos Emerald in his hand. That means that the emerald shards fused together for when the six of us arrived to this world. But what I don't know is what are those ghostly-looking pirates doing in that class room to..."_

Before he could have a chance to finish the rest of his thoughts, Miguel heard the voice of Lan saying to the pirate leader while extending his arm with the green emerald inside his hand.

"Alright, then," Miguel heard the boy beginning to say to the green glowing figure as he saw the boy extending his hand towards the fiend, "once I hand this emerald to you, would you and the rest of the pirates leave me and my friends alone and never come back?"

"Arrrrrgh! Of course we would, matey," Miguel heard the pirate responded to Lan's question as he saw a smirk on his green-bearded face while turning to the rest of his companions, "Just hand over the emerald and I promise that we'll just disappear like a bad dream. Isn't that right, boys?"

As a response to the boy's question, Miguel heard the voices of the other ghost-like pirates responding with an, "Arrrrrgh!" while seeing them nodding their heads together in unison. While hearing a big gulp in Lan's throat, Miguel saw the young boy beginning to walk closer to the pirate leader as his hand with the green emerald in his hand came closer with green hand of the pirate's.

"Miguel, what's happening over there?" the young man heard the whisper of Sylphiel's voice asking him with a worried tone in her voice.

"I think that the boy who has the emerald shards is going to hand a near-completed emerald over to what appears to be green glowing pirates," Miguel whispered back to the shrine maiden as he saw Lan getting closer to the pirate leader, "Whatever they may be, I don't think that we should just stand aside and let them get a hold of that near-completed Chaos Emerald. If they do, then who knows what would happen?"

"Wait. What do you mean by...?" Sylphiel was about to ask before her voice was interrupted by Miguel.

"I'll explain everything to you and the Chaotix once we get that boy and the rest of those innocent people as well as the emerald out of here," he whispered just before he began to shout out to the blue bandana boy, "No, kid! Don't listen to what that ghost guy says to you! If you give that emerald to that guy, this world is doomed with you and your friends along in it!"

Miguel then scooted back away from the open door that he just yelled from while he had the shrine maiden to move away from the door as well. However, the two of them only moved a couple of feet from the open door in order to still hear what would happened next.

"Miguel, why did you yell like that?" Sylphiel asked him with a firm but calm whisper, "You know that everyone in that room heard your voice and one of those pirates that you saw could come over here and..."

Before he could hear the rest of the shrine maiden's sentence, Miguel heard her words being cut off for when he began to hear the sounds of footsteps coming towards the open door. Then the teen heard the voices of two of the green ghostly-looking pirates saying to one another with the same kind of pirate tone as their leader used.

"Arrrrr! The voice came from over here, Ravy Jones," the young man heard the voice of one of the approaching pirates saying to his comrade, "Whoever was the one that yelled is going to be in the depths of Hell for when we're through with him! Arrrrr! Arrrrr!"

When he heard those words, Miguel began to back away from the open door and whispered to Sylphiel, "Sylphiel, grab onto my hand very tightly! I'm going to warp the two of us to a place nearby using the Chaos Control. I'm not so sure where I'm going to end up, but I'm hoping that it would be some place that's not here."

He saw the shrine maiden agreely nodded in response to his question. Then, while grabbing a hold of her hand, Miguel began to concentrate his mind on saying the two words in his mind that would allow him to use Shadow the Hedgehog's special ability.

_"Chaos Control!" _Miguel thought quickly just before both he and the shrine maiden were surrounded by a green aura of light before they once again found themselves traveling within the fabrics of time and space to a safe destination.

After a moment of traveling through the green tunnel with his eyes closed, Miguel began to open both of his eyelids and saw that both he and Sylphiel are on the very rooftops of the school building that they were once in. Before he could have a chance to ask the shrine maiden if she was okay, the young man soon began to realize that he had his arms wrapped around the young woman's body without even realizing that he did. While blushing about the position that he was in, Miguel immediately released his hold of Sylphiel's body while at the same time turning his face away from her in order to hide the embarrassment.

_"Damn! What was I doing!" _he thought to himself as he tried to calm himself down from the embarrassment that he'd suffered whiel at the same time trying to get rid of the red color on his face, _"For that matter, what was I thinking? _

_"I just wrapped my arms around an extremely beautiful anime girl! Not only that, but she could be about twenty years of age while you've just barely turned eighteen just as you're about to go to college at the same time! Oh, and let's not forget about the fact that she is probably the first girl that you've ever wrapped your arms around with on you own free will! Boy, this totally embarrassing! I wish that I...!"_

Before he could have a chance to finish his thoughts, Miguel was suddenly startled by the voice of the shrine maiden saying to him, "Miguel, just where exactly are we? Where did you teleported us to for when you used the Chaos Control?"

When he turned to face Sylphiel's direction, he saw that her face was a bit rosy for when he faced her direction. The teen also saw the young woman's face shy and embarrassed. Before he could be taken back the reaction of the shrine maiden's face, Miguel began to say to her while trying to shake off his embarrassment, "(Ahem!) I think that I might've warped the two of us above of where we were, Sylphiel. If only I knew where here is, we could find out exactly how far are we from the boy with that near-completed Chaos Emerald that I just saw."

"Just exactly what do you mean by what you said about seeing a near completed emerald, Miguel?" Sylphiel asked him with a curious tone as he continued to look around the rooftops to see where they are.

"Here's what I think, Sylphiel," Miguel began say to the shrine maiden while continuing to scan the area that they were in, "I think that when you, I, and the Chaotix each came into contact with a shard of the Chaos Emerald, they must've been fused together for when we've arrived into this world. But what I couldn't figure out though is how did the Chaos Emerald shatter into pieces to begin with."

Just before he could hear Sylphiel's reply to his theory, Miguel suddenly heard the shouts of the green pirate leader yelling towards Lan with a more serious and angry tone of voice than before, "Arrrrrgh! Mr. Bones! Bring in the girl with the pink reddish hair to me!"

Miguel didn't need any more clues to hint to him that something terrible was about to happen. As soon as he heard the words, the young man began to turn his full attention towards the shrine maiden and said to her with a panicked tone, "Sylphiel, did you hear what I just heard? If you did, then that means that the boy along with whoever is in the classroom is going to be in trouble. Regardless whether he hands that Chaos Emerald over to those pirates or not."

"What are we going to do about it?" Sylphiel asked as he saw the young woman's face filled with concern. "We can't just stand here and do nothing."

"I think that we may have to attack those pirates in order to keep them from getting their hands on the Chaos Emerald as well as prevent them from hurting the boy and his friends at the same time," Miguel answered the shrine maiden with an anxious and serious tone, "If we don't, then everyone in that room is going to be killed by those pirates regardless of whether that boy hands over the Chaos Emerald or not.

"Not only that, but this entire world would be in danger if we don't act now. I'm going to use the Chaos Control to warp the two of us inside of the room. Once I do that, I want you to go over to the boy and get him along with his friends out of the room as far away from here as you possibly can."

"But what about you, Miguel?" He heard the shrine maiden asking him with a confused and yet worried look on her face, "What are you going to do while I'm leading those people to safety?"

At that moment, Miguel felt a bit hesitate to answer at first, but then decided to come clean with the young woman despite knowing what he must do.

"I'm going to try to fight off those pirates as best as I could, Sylphiel," the young man responded to his friend while turning away from her gaze at the same time. "I don't know whether or not it I'm going to make it, but I want you to get these innocent people to safety while I drive these pirates' attention away from you by attacking them."

"But Miguel..." was all Miguel could hear from Sylphiel's mouth before he cut her off with a more stern and commander-like tone of voice.

"No 'buts' Sylphiel. I don't want either of you or any one of those people getting hurt because you've felt concern for my safety. Is that clear?"

As he turned towards the shrine maiden in order to hear her response, what he saw was her face beginning to become a little sadden as she nodded in order to answer his question while not facing his direction. Miguel sighed a bit in order to get some of his hot air out of his system. The teen then started to feel ashamed for when he said those words to Sylphiel in a harsh tone that he used towards her. That was when he went over to his female friend side and gently placed a hand on her shoulder as he said to her with a more nicer tone of voice.

"Sylphiel, I'm sorry for the way that I've just spoke to you just now. It's just that I don't want you to get hurt like with what happened for when we both first fought with Nightmare Parasite. I guess that some of the pressure has finally gotten to me and just went out all at once. Look, the point is that I don't want you to get hurt because of what I did wrong or what I didn't do. So let's just help out these people before they get hurt and get them to safety. Afterwards, when we get a moment to ourselves, we could talk about it some more, okay?"

While seeing a nod of her head with a renewed smile on her face, Miguel began to smile back to her just as he took a hold of her hand while shouting out, "Chaos Control!"

Before he knew was happening, both he and Sylphiel are traveling through the green tunnel in between both time and space before arriving to save the day. When they finally arrived in the room, Miguel began to quickly point his index finger towards the pirate leader that was once holding a girl with pinkish red hair hostage and shoot out a beam of intense green light at his shoulder causing him to release his prisoner.

As soon as he arrived back at the Dentech City's main server, Bass suddenly stopped for when he soon felt the energy that he was detecting disappeared from his sights again. The Black Shadow Navi became enraged at the fact that he once again lost the energy source that he searched for. So enraged that he almost bursted into a fit of anger that could be enough to cause the entire Cyber World to tremble and quake with the huge vibrations of his enormous power.

_"I was so close with trying to gain the great power I've sensed and now I've lost it once again!" _Bass thought to himself as he felt his entire body pulsing with his own power along with his anger. _"Just how is it that I was able to find this power one minute and lose it in the next! Just where in the world could this great power be!" _

As if to answer his question, the Black Shadow suddenly felt a sudden jolt of energy surging all over his body for a moment before fading out of existence again. This in term calmed the Navi's anger enough for him to think clearly about what he just sensed.

_"This power that I'm sensing isn't like the others," _Bass thought to himself as he became curious of the new source of power that he's feeling. _"It feels as though the fabric of time and space is trembling before this source. But this source doesn't feel as frightening as the first one that I've sensed. It feels gentle and yet very powerful as well. _

_"Whatever this is, it hasn't disappeared completely like the others. It's as if this source of power is begging me to come search for it. Well, I can't let an opportunity like this to just slip through my fingers again. I have to get there and see what is causing this enormous amount of energy. Then, once I found the source, I'll be powerful enough to not only conquer the Cyber World and the Human World. Nothing would be able to stand in my way. Not even MegaMan and that dumb Net Op of his." _

With those thoughts done in his mind, the Black Shadow started to speed his way through the Cyber Link towards the source where he sensed the powerful disturbance and continued to wonder just what caused the surge of energy that he just felt.

When both she and her friend finally appeared at their destination, Sylphiel began to look around the room that they were in and saw what she expected. What she saw was a group of people who were in fact composed of a group of young kids along with one female adult. She also saw that the room is also filled with creepy male pirates that glowed with a evil-looking green aura that surrounded their bodies.

But before she could have the chance to look around the area any further, the shrine maiden suddenly saw her friend starting to shoot a beam of intense green light with this index finger towards what appears to be the leader of the gang of pirates. As soon as the beam collided with the fiend's shoulder, Sylphiel saw that the villain suddenly releasing his grip of his hostage, who was a girl with pinkish red hair, and screamed with pain as he gripped onto his own wound.

"Sylphiel, go and get out of here now!" she heard Miguel saying as she saw him in a fighting pose while unseathing his Star Sword at the same time, "Get those two along with their friends to safety while I take care of these pirate scum bags in order to buy you the time you need to escape from here!"

The young woman felt a bit hesitant about leaving her friend's side to do battle with a group of green pirate men by himself. But she then decided to do what he said and prayed that Miguel would come out of it alive. Before she could have the chance to say for him to be careful, the shrine maiden saw the girl who was once being held captive by the group leader shouting to her while see her drag the boy with the Chaos Emerald in hand by his other hand, "Let's just do what your boyfriend says and get our butts out of here, lady!"

While feeling a bit flustered at what the young girl said to her, Sylphiel followed the two young kids towards the rest of the group of people who were still frozen with shock about what just happened in front of their eyes.

"Now what in the world just happened here!" she heard a woman who appears to be wearing her brown hair with two buns saying out loud. "First Lan shows up late while holding a strange green emerald in his hand that shines with an enormous amount of light. Then, these green pirates appear out of nowhere and threaten to hurt us if Lan hadn't turned in that emerald in his hand, and then...!"

That was when Sylphiel began to interrupt the woman by saying to her with her usual polite tone of voice, "I think that we'd better save all of the explanations for after all of us get out to safety, Miss! There would be plenty of time for me to explain everything once we all get to someplace safe away from this area! So please get a move on!"

"Hey, wait a minute! Aren't you that girl that I've just saw in the alley with those mutant aliens a while ago?" she heard the boy, who was still holding the Chaos Emerald, asked with a sort of frighten and curious tone in his voice as he got a closer look at her face. "It is you! Just who..!"

"Let's forget about that for now, Lan!" Sylphiel heard a younger girl shouting to her friend, "Right now, let's do as she says and run for it! Besides, she and her friend are here to help us, not kill us!"

While seeing the rest of the group agreeing with the red-haired girl's suggestion, the shrine maiden began to lead them out through the door and ran in the hallways of the building.

"Excuse me, miss! What about that friend of yours?" she heard the voice of the one of the kids, a brown-haired boy with a yellow sweater, saying to her. "Shouldn't you go back and help him as soon as we get to safety?"

Before Sylphiel could have the chance to answer the young man's question, she suddenly heard the large kid with the strange shark-like hairdo saying to her, "Hey, babe! Do you really have a boyfriend? My name is Dex Oyama and I would like to go out with a pretty young lady like you."

"Dex! Now is not the time to start flirting with beautiful girls!" she heard the voice of a young little girl with blonde braids saying to her large friend. "We're being attacked by a horde of green pirates that might be ghosts with bad attitudes! So just shut you mouth and keep running!"

As she and everyone else continued to run for their lives, Sylphiel soon bumped into a hard object that made her fall onto the ground. When she landed the ground, the shrine maiden started to look for whatever was in her way while at the same time trying to regain her mind's senses. That was when she heard a familiar male voice saying with an angry tone, "Man! Who's the punk that just rammed me into me like a wall this time! When I get my hands on him, I'll..!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Chill out, pal! It's not that the guy would want to do it on...!" That was all Sylphiel could hear from the person's companion right before she regained her full senses and heard his next words. "Sylphiel! What are you doing here!"

As soon as she heard those words and faced whoever she accidently bumped into, she saw that it was none other than two of the members of the Chaotix, Vector and Mighty. But what she didn't expect was that the two Mobians were being accompanied by a tall man with glasses that looked as though he didn't comb his hair for about weeks or maybe even months. The shrine maiden soon noticed that he was on the ground just as she while at the same time trying to find the glasses that were on his face. That was for when the priestess realized that he was the one that she bumped into by accident and caused his glasses to fall off of his face.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, sir! I didn't mean to bump into you like that!" Sylphiel said to the person as she reached for the glasses on the floor and handed them to him while at the same time helping both herself and man off of the ground.

"Oh, that's alright," she heard the person say for when she saw him grabbing onto her hand as he put his glasses back on while at the same time getting onto his own feet. "It's just that I haven't been watching where I was going and..."

His words were soon cut off for when she saw the guy looking up at her with his eyesight back to normal. Sylphiel soon began to notice the man starting to blush for when he saw her face. She too began to blush for just before the shrine maiden saw the person started to drool over her like she was beautiful princess.

"Why, you're the most beautiful girl that I've ever seen!" the man said to the shrine maiden as she was becoming a bit embarrassed at the praise that she just received. "I bet that...!"

"Now is not the time to be flirting with this girl, Honey Bee!" said Vector as he said to the person who just praised her right before her very presense with a rather miffed and exhausted tone. "We got some wacky pirates on our tails that want to...!"

"Oh, let's forget about all the introductions and just run for it!" Mighty said with a panicked tone in his voice as Sylphiel started to look at where the two mobians just came from and saw another group of pirates running towards their direction.

"Oh, great! Just our luck! First we saw a beautiful girl being accompanied by a guy with a sword, then two of the aliens show up with Mr. Higsby, and now this!" she heard the boy named Lan saying out loud with a tone of annoyance before she saw him turning his full attention towards the huge talking crocodile and saw his face turning pale just before he screamed. "Ahhhh! That's the mutant alligator that both me and MegaMan saw in the alley behind the school cafeteria! I told you all that he was real!"

"Hey! I recognized that voice!" Sylphiel heard Vector starting to say as she saw him turn his huge-mouthed face towards Lan's direction while at the same time grabbing him by the shoulders and started to shake him like crazy. "You're that punk kid that took the emerald shards away from us as well as have the nerve to call me a mutant alligator! For your information, I'm a crocodile, not an alligator! Secondly, I'm not a mutant alien either!"

"Vec, now is not the time for this!" she heard the black and orange armadillo saying to his friend while she saw him prying the crocodile's grip away from the head-banded boy's shoulders. "You could settle your score with this kid this later for when we get out of this mess! Right now, we're all surrounded by a band of ghost pirates that want the Chaos Emerald for their own! Just how are we going to get ourselves out of this mess?"

"I think that I know what to do about that, Mighty," Sylphiel answered to the Mobian with a calm voice as she turned her full attention towards the young boy named Lan, "Excuse me...uh, Lan wasn't it? Can you please hand over the Chaos Emerald that you have in your hand? I'm going to need it in order for all of us to escape from here."

As soon as she was finished, Sylphiel began to noticed the head-banded boy beginning to blush for as he continued to look at her while at the same time staring into space. Just before he could have the chance to say anything, the shrine maiden started to see the red-haired young girl beginning to pinch him right in the ear just as she said with a panicked and annoyed tone, "Lan! This is not the time to start spacing out like this! That girl is asking you to hand over that emerald! So do as she says and give it to her now!"

When she heard the young girl finishing her sentence, Sylphiel saw Lan quickly snapping himself back into reality and started to quake in fear for when he saw the frightenly mad expression on her face. She saw the boy quickly turning back towards her direction and handed her the green near-completed Chaos Emerald that was in his hands as she sweatdropped at what she just saw. As soon as she felt the emerald within her hand, the shrine maiden suddenly felt the incredible energy of the Chaos Emerald surging throughout her entire body.

Then as soon as the energy began to subside, Sylphiel started to speak calmly to everyone as she looked around and saw the hordes of the glowing green pirates approaching them, "I'm going to have to ask everyone to hang onto me and each other tightly for while I start to perform the Chaos Control to transport all of us to safety. Just fair to warn you, it could be a bumpy ride!"

"Chaos Control? What's that?" she heard the voice of the small blonde girl asking her just before she heard Vector answering her question while the shrine maiden continued to see the pirates starting to surround them.

"Little girl, I think that we ought to save the questions for later and just do as the young lady says," the crocodile said to the little girl while beginning to feel the hands of everyone around her grabbing onto her cape. "Alright, babe, it's all you out here! Now say the magic words and get us all out of here!"

Before Sylphiel could have the chance to say something in order to protest against what Vector just said, she heard the voice of Mighty saying to her with a reassuring tone, "Don't worry about Miguel, Sylphiel. I'm sure that the guy could take care of all of those things by himself. We've seen what he could do back then for when we've all met in his world. Just warp us out of here and we could worry about trying to find him later!"

As soon as she heard those words from the armadillo's mouth, Sylphiel soon began to remember the times that she saw Miguel fought against monsters that were far stronger than the ones that their facing at the moment. She then started to concentrate her mind on the task at hand. She felt great amounts of Chaos Energy surging throughout her entire body as she tried to find a location that was far enough from the group of green pirates that they were facing. When she finally found a desired location, the shrine maiden began to shout out to everyone, "Everybody please hang on to each other tightly because this is going to be a long and rough ride! Here we go! Chaos Control!"

With those two words shouted out through her mouth, the shrine maiden felt herself as well as all of the others in the group being engulfed in brilliance of green light. Before either she or her passagers knows what was happening, the young woman saw that she and the large group of people were being pulled along the tunnel of green light as they were being pulled towards their destination.

As he felt a huge surge of energy pulsing through his body, Miguel immediately recognized the reaction. He recognized it even as he continued to slash at the phantom-like pirates one by one with his huge mystical blade.

_"Sylphiel just used the Chaos Control to warp herself out of here. I just hope that she took Vector and Mighty as well as all of the others along as well," _he thought to himself as the teen gave off a long sigh of relief for as he clashed swords with one of the pirate that has one arm missing. _"Can't seem to detect the presence of both Vector and Mighty life force anywhere near this area for when Sylphiel used the Chaos Control. I guess that now that everyone is out of the area, I won't need to worry about their safety anymore. That also means that I could use the most powerful attack spell of astral magic to exterminate these ghosts with one attack! Well, here goes nothing."_

As soon as he slashed at the pirate with the one arm out existence, the teen began to place his Star Sword back in its resting place and positioned himself to start chanting the words the Ra-Tilt. Time seemed to stand still all around his presence ceasing the movement of the large group of ghostly pirates.

"**_Souls that flow within the eternal and infinite, _**

_**ever lasting flame of blue. **_

_**Let all the power hidden deep within my soul **_

_**be called forth here and now!"**_

When he saw a huge amount of silvery light gathering within his hands, time around his being soon started again. Miguel then faced his full attention back towards the entire group of pirates and said to them, "Well, here's something that'll teach you Black Beard pirate rip-offs not to mess around with innocent people's lives! Now go to back to hell where you came from! **_Ra-Tilt!_**"

As soon as those words were right out of his mouth, the teen fired off a powerful amount of silver spirit energy towards the direction of the charging pirates. Before he knew it, as soon as his attack collided, the once threatening group of pirates began to fade out of existence from within the river of slivery blanket of energy being fired off towards their direction. After a moment passed, Miguel saw the bright light beginning fade out of his sight. When the light had fully faded away from within the room, the teen looked around and saw that not a single pirate phantom remained. He also saw that the room that he was in was still intact and untouched by the spell he just fired off.

_"I guess that this means that I, as well as the people around this world, are safe. At least for now," _Miguel thought to himself as he began to collaspe onto the ground and breathed in some air into his lungs while trying to regain his strength. _"Boy, I guess that the last attack pretty much drained me of all of my strength and energy for when I've attempted to do that Ra-Tilt. I guess that I'm still not used to casting that spell with that much of my own power before. _

_"But that's not what I should be worrying about right now. What I'm worried about the most is if Sylphiel and all of the others have made it to safety alright. With Sylphiel using the power of the Chaos Control, they could be at almost anyplace. I guess I could just lay here for a moment and give myself some time to rest while my body has time to recuperate." _

With those thoughts said and done, the teen began to look all around the class room and was amazed at what he saw. _"Boy, it's so hard for me to believe that I'm right here in the room where Lan Hikari himself who, along with his Navi MegaMan, are the stars of..." _that was all that Miguel could think of before he turned his full attention towards a small security camera on the wall and saw that it was facing his direction. Before he could have the time to think, the teen began to point his index finger towards the camera and shot at the lens with a piercing beam of white light.

"What the..! Just who was watching me just now?" Miguel thought to himself out loud as he began to pick himself off of the ground that he was laying on and tried to keep his feet's balance. "I know that the camera was on because of the way that its lens is moving around and facing my direction as if someone was watching me. I'd better rejoin Sylphiel and the others before the local authorities start coming around her to investigate. With the commotion that I've made by using the Ra-Tilt, I'm sure that someone was bound to notice it. Well, I'm outta here!"

With those words said and done, the teen began to concentrate on finding any traces of Sylphiel's own Chaos Energy. When he finally found the energy source that he was looking for, Miguel started to shout out the two words that would enable him to warp between the boundaries of time and space, "Chaos Control!"

As soon as he heard the human young man shout out those words from within the Cyber Matrix inside another hidden camera, Bass watched with both awe and interest as he saw the human vanishing from his sights within a huge brillance of emerald-colored light. The Black Shadow was amazed that a human was able to evade his sights just by disappearing within the enormous amount of green light that he just saw. He was also amazed by the large amounts of energy that he detected within the mysterious human for just before he lost sight of him.

_"Just what in the world is he anyway?"_ Bass thought to himself as he continued to stare into the space that the human young man was once lying on before he teleported away. _"Could he be the one that emitted one of the energies sources the I've felt from before? _

_"No, that's seems unlikely. How is it that a mere human like him would wield such power? It's just not possible. Humans are nothing but dirty apes that use Navis to do their work for them! Well, whatever force this might be, I have to keep pursuing my goal until that power is mine. Now that I know who was emitting the gentle energy that I've sensed, I'll just track down this human's energy and keep a close eye on him from within the shadows for the time being. I'll bide my time in order for me to seek out the perfect opportunity for me to claim that power for myself. I don't know when or how I'll do it, but I'll get that power by whatever means necessary. In the meantime, I'll just watch over that human and see what happens." _

As soon as those thoughts were done, the Black Shadow disappeared out of the camera cyber mainframe and began his search for the human being that he sensed emitting the incredible amount of power that he sensed.

Just as he continued to hide himself from within the the large green bushes near the building, Dilgear began to sniff around the air of the area in order to see if he could find a trace of energy or astral energy within the area. From what he just saw a few moments ago, the part wolf and troll witnessed a sudden burst of silver energy being erupted from within a elementary school building that looked empty for about a few hours now. He wanted to get a sniff around the area before any of the humans within the world that he's in started to come around and investigate what just happened.

_"Hmmm. The energy that I'm smelling around this area is very strong," _the werewolf thought to himself just as he was finally able to pick up a trace of astral energy with his nose. _"Not only that, but it seems that it was somehow manipulated in order to be fired off as some sort of spell. I haven't felt this sort of thing since my days with that no good betraying chimera, Zelgadis. But it's strange. _

_"From what I've heard from Nightmare Parasite in the past, neither the boy Miguel and Sylphiel don't have the knowledge or the strength necessary to use the most powerful spell of the astral plane: the Ra-Tilt. But from what I just saw a while ago, that definitely looked like the blast coming from that of a Ra-Tilt. I may not be able to cast spells like the Ra-Tilt, but I seen Zelgadis used it in the past enough times for me to know that it was stronger than usual. The residue that's left behind is still all around this place like a morning mist. _

_"Well, whatever I saw either the boy or girl do from within that building, they were able to defeat an entire group of those spiritaul pirates that Parasite sent along with me for when we arrived in this world before they left the area. They didn't even have a chance for when that Ra-Tilt hits its mark. But luckly, there are still more where those fools come from." _

"Captain! Come over here!" Dilgear shouted out just before he saw strongly built male with a long but strong black beard on his chin along with a huge black captain's hat on his head appearing right in front of his presense while at the same time emitting a powerful green aura around his ghostly body.

"What is it, sir?" the black-bearded pirated asked while at the same time bowing at the werewolf like he was a loyal dog just before he answered. "For what task do yee want me to accomplish."

"I want you to have all of the remaining groups to start searching the streets for those brats that have the Chaos Emerald. Also, have them search the area for any traces of the boy Miguel and his woman, Sylphiel. When or if you find the slightest clue to their whereabouts, let me know. Don't start the attack without my command."

As soon as he was finished, Dilgear saw the glowing green pirate vanishing from his sights without leaving a single trace of his existence. Just as the werewolf was about to leave, he suddenly smelled something in the air that he hadn't noticed before. Something that didn't smell quite human.

_"What is this weird stench that I'm picking up?"_ the werewolf thought to himself as he continued to sniff around the area to see where the astral sent that he picking up with his nose. _"Whatever it was, it sure doesn't smell human. It doesn't have a physical presense in this plane but it sure wasn't no ghost. _

_"The energy that it's emitting is incredible. It's as if it were like one of the Monsters back in my own home world. But that's just talking crazy. Well, whatever it was, it's gone now. I'd better keep my focus on finding that Chaos Emerald as well as those two humans before they elude my sights again using that Chaos Control ability of theirs. Not that they could thanks to my new enhanced abilities and senses. Heh! Heh! Heh!" _

With those thoughts done in his mind, Dilgear started to march out of the area quietly as he did his best to sneak into the darkness of the shadows without any of the people within the city to notice.

As she continued to walk back towards her own home after getting what she needs from the market, Haruka Hikari was suddenly startled for when she saw a pillar of bright green light appearing right near her direction.

_"Now what was that all about?" _she thought to herself as she approached the tower of intense light with a bit of curiosity crawling up her mind. _"Whatever it is, I'm not too thrilled of finding out what it is. I just finish shopping for tonight's dinner and I can't image what would happen if Lan should miss one of my meals. I'd better get home before he..." _

The woman's thoughts were soon cut short for when she began to see the pillar of light subsiding its brilliance before fully disappearing into the dark alley below. Just as she was going to give out a sigh of relief and resume her route back to her home, she suddenly began to hear the sound of voices coming from the alley.

"Hey Charmy! Watch where you're going!" she heard one of the voices that sounded like that of a teen. "You could really hurt someone while flying like that! What if someone would've caught a glimpse of you flying around like that! You know how the people of this world would react if they ever saw you!"

"Sorry, Espy. I was only flying towards the same location as you were just before we crashed into one another," Haruka heard another voice saying to his companion as she noted must be that of a six year old. "And for your information, I was flying just high and fast enough in order to be invisible to the people within the tall buildings and neighborhood! It was not my fault that I wasn't able to see you for while you were invisible!"

As she continued to listen to the voices that were being emitted throughout the entire alley way. For when she got closer to the source of where the voices were being emitted from, the woman saw two forms appearing from within the shadows thanks to the light that was being emitted by a broken street lamp. Just as she was almost approaching towards the two people, Haruka was finally able to see that the two friends that are arguing amongst each other were wearing the most strangest and bizarre costumes that she's ever seen.

One of the two looked like he was dressed as a small cute cartoon bee. He also seemed to be wearing a small fighter pilots outfit that came along with a pair of adorable goggles. She turned her full attention towards his other companion and saw that he was dressed as some type of lizard that didn't look as frightening as most lizards that she once studied as a teenager. He was all purple and green with a golden horn on the top of his forehead. He also wore a set of white gloves that make him look liked a ninja.

"Look Charmy, I'm sorry that I've went right into your flight path. But with the way that you fly around, it's like getting hit by a fighter jet. Now, we don't know just where we are and...," that was all that the woman could hear before she stepped up towards their direction and spoke to the two of them while startling them at the same time.

"Excuse me, but are you two kids lost or something? I would be most glad to help you both with how to get around this city if you want. I happen to know my way around this city. Now, could you both tell me where your parents live?"

The reactions that Haruka saw on the two boys' faces were that of both shock and disbelief about what she just said to them. After a moment of silence, the child in the purple costume was the first to say a piece of his mind.

"Uh, miss? What makes you think that we're kids?" the boy with the reptile costume said to her with a confused and yet annoyed tone in his voice as well as sounding like a teenager. "For your information, I happened to be about fifteen years old and Charmy here happens to be six. Then, we both just happen to crashed into one another while we were searching for something that we lost and..."

That was all that she could hear just before she spoke up to the two of them, "Oh, it must be a condition of some kind. Well anyway, I'm sure that whatever it is that you two were looking for, I'm sure that the police would be able to find it the next day or two. In the meantime, why don't the two of you come over to my house and have dinner with me and my son, Lan. I'm sure that he would be able to help you to find whatever it is that you're looking for as well as your parents."

"(Ahem!) Well, as much as we appreciate the offer, miss, but I'm afraid that we must decline," she heard the child in the purple lizard costume saying to her with a calm and serious tone in his voice. "I'm afraid that..."

That was when she heard the boy's words being cut off by the younger boy's voice as he spoke up with a teary eyed expression on his face, "Aw! Come on, Espio! The young lady just asked the two of us if we could follow her to her home so that she could give us some delicous food. Besides, I haven't eaten all day since that time that I've found that Cha..."

At that moment, Haruka started to become confused for when she heard the words of the small boy in the bee costume was being cut off by the one in the purple lizard costume covered the younger boy's mouth with his own hand. Just before she could have a chance to ask what was going on, the woman heard the purple-costumed boy saying to her, "Well, it looks like that we're going to be joining you after all, Miss. Once Charmy here starts to cry over something such as food, we'll never hear the end of it."

"Yay! Some chow!" she heard the eager voice of the small boy in the bee costume named Charmy saying as she saw him jumping up with joy. "Thanks, Espio, you're a true pal!"

"Yeah! Yeah! Just keep in mind that if Vector finds out about this, he's going to be chomping our heads right off," said the one named Espio with an embarrassed and cool tone just before Haruka heard the loud sound of a stomach rumbling loudly all across the alley. That was when she realized that the loud rumbling was coming from the boy in the reptile suit.

"Um, it looks like that Charmy isn't the only one who's hungry, young man," the woman said to the one named Espio with an cute chuckle just as she saw him facing down the ground in embarrassment with a shade of red on his cheeks. "You both must be hungry for traveling around the city this much looking for whatever it is you're looking for as well as your parents. Just come with me and I'm sure that those tummies of yours would be full in no time."

As soon as they both heard those words coming from the human woman's mouth, Espio began to reluctantly follow both her and a starry-eyed Charmy out of the alley. He could also see a bit of drool coming out of the young bee's mouth.

_"I guess that I have no choice but to go along with this," _the chameleon thought to himself as he followed both the woman and his little bee friend as they exited out of the dark alley while soon beginning to notice a thought that didn't occur to him sooner. _"But what I'm more concerned about is what happened to that Chaos Emerald shard that both me and Charmy were after. Did someone get their hands on it before we could reach it? Whoever got it is asking for a whole lot of trouble if that thing goes out of control like it did before. I guess that all we could do now is just get some food to get our strength back so that we could go back to the others and..." _

Just before he could finish his thoughts, Espio heard the shouts of a teenaged young woman shouting out towards him, "Whoa, Brad! Did you just see the two kids with the costumes? They must really trying to impress people for Halloween in order to dress that strange."

"You've said it, Kate!" responded the voice of a young man saying to his female companion as the purple chameleon scanned the area and saw that both he and Charmy were starting to attract attention. "I mean, look at those gloves that kid with the purple lizard suit is wearing! Come on! A lizard wearing ninja gloves? Now that's the most dumbest thing that I've ever seen!"

"Well, I think that the boy in the bumble bee outfit is simply adorable!" Espio heard the voice of a elderly woman saying while starting to gain up towards both the woman and his young bee friend. "That fighter pilot outfit is just the cutest thing that I've ever seen. It makes me want to give that little guy a big hug!"

_"Well, at least some of the people of this world doesn't suspect that both me and Charmy are from another world," _Espio thought to himself as he gave out a small sigh of relief before focusing on more important thoughts. _"But what I'm more concerned about right now is just whose hands that Chaos Emerald shard is in right now. I just pray that whoever has it is smart enough to keep it in a safe place and out of sight. Otherwise there's going to be a huge mess that'll be enough to cause the apocalypse." _

**End of Part 3**


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4**

**Note to readers: **Sorry for the long wait folks. I've been busy trying to make this chapter as best as I could and I'm still thinking about the next chapters ahead. Now, for all of the fans of the **Rockman Exe.** series, I would like to point out that it took me a while to find out what to do about Chaud's(Enzan in the Japanesse version) name. At first I thought of using Eugene Chaud for the story(The one that's in the games). But then I thought, what about his name in the English anime? So then I decided to fuse the two names together into Chaud Eugene Blaze. I know that it's not much, but it's the best that I could come up with. Now, I would like to thank the group **Generation-A** for their continued support on my stories. As a reminder, the anime and game characters mentioned in this story do not belong to me and belonged to the owners described in **Part 1**. Now, on with the show!

As he continued to ride along the streets of Dentech City in his private limousine, Chaud Eugene Blaze was still in cloud of confusion and amazement about his discovery while on his way to one of his usual business meetings on behalf of his father's company, Blaze Quest. What he was looking at is a huge green shard of what appears to be a part of a large green emerald of some kind. But what puzzled him even more about it was the fact that it was able to emit a type of magnetic field that disrupted the screen of his advanced P.E.T. like it was nothing but static for when it emitted the powerful green light from before. The new advancements made on his personal terminal is suppose to help the device stand up to any condition, even in the worse of weather.

"Chaud, are you still looking at that green rock that you found?" he heard the voice of his crimson Navi Protoman asking him while his skunk-haired operator while he raised the screen towards his face in order to look at his digital friend. "You know that you have a very important business meeting with one of the most important executives from another company that has been lending its technical support to us since long before you were born.

"Now is not the time for you to start wondering about where that chunk of green rock came from within an alley that's probably filled with raw garbage. For all we know, it could just be another piece of glass and that magnetic field that disrupted the P.E.T. could've come from another powerful electronic device. We could file a report to Commissioner Kifune to have you investigate the matter if it..."

"As much as I would like to believe that, Protoman, but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to disagree," Chaud said while cutting off his Navi's words as he continued to look at the beautiful shining emerald piece in his hand. "The P.E.T.'s structure was made in order for it to withstand a large amount of magnetic disturbances no matter if it's from a nuclear warhead or a power plant. But when I was cut off from you within the P.E.T., I suddenly found the source of the problem.

"As soon as I had the driver pull over near the source of the pillar of light, I saw this emerald shard glowing with a light that's so strong that I wasn't able to see what was in front of me. Then just like that the light disappeared and all that's left is this green emerald shard in it's place. What's even more intriguing that everything went back to normal for when that light stopped and you were somehow able to re-establish your contact with me through the P.E.T. This just doesn't make any sense to me."

"Look, whatever that might have appeared to be, it's stopped," he heard ProtoMan responding to his operator/friend with a worried and serious tone in his voice. "What's done in the past is done. Now, let's try to forget about it in order for you to get ready for your meeting by watching the news. I'm sure that it would help you focus more on your duties."

"(Sighs) I guess you're right, ProtoMan," Chaud said to his Navi while putting away the green gem shard that was in his hand next to the side of his seat and began to turn on the nearby television set inside of the limousine's passager seat and checked on the current events that the news would offer. "I mean, I guess that I've been a bit little on edge lately since going out from one business meeting to another. Things have started to become even more busy these last two weeks since..."

Just before the white and black-haired Net Battler could have a chance to finish his sentence, his words were soon cut off for when he heard the loud and excited voice of DNN's Ribbita saying to the audience, "This just in! Just a few moments ago, two pillars of intense green light just erupted on two sections all over Dentech City!

"One that appeared over the elementary school of Dentech Academy and another that appeared right over the busy part of town. Eye witnesses reported that it looked as though that it was an explosion of some kind. Fortunately, the area where the explosion took place looked as though it wasn't ruined at all once our camera crews reached Dentech Academy. As the crew saw private investagators and Net Saviors looking into the matter, we were able to take a look into the security system's hidden video data.

"But from the footage that we were able to see, most of the data was either corrupted or destroyed by the magnetic interference that the explosions caused. However, one of the persons in charge of maintaing the system says that he could've sworn he saw a young man in his teens disappearing in a bright green light! The same light as the supposed explosions took place a while former...!"

That was all that the young Net Battler would want to hear after shutting off the screen of the small television and turned his full attention towards his red long-haired Navi and said with soft and yet sarcastic tone while rubbing onto the temples of his head, "Well, that was a brilliant idea, ProtoMan.

"First, a very important meeting with one of my dad's business partners is coming up. Then, this green gem stone shows up out of an alley without any explanation causing a magnetic field that temporarily disrupts electronical devices within its range, including the P.E.T.s with their new enhancements. Now, the local news on T.V. tells us that it could be possible that these two pillars of green light could somehow be connected with this person that they were just talking about.

"(Sighs) As soon as I get the business wrapped up and over with, I'm going to lock this gem shard into a safe place and have it analyzed by the scientists at SciLab in the morning. Then I'm going to take a nice long sleep and try to forget all about that craziness until tomorrow for when I'm up to investigate that rock further. Being stressed out about it right now would effect the way that I think as a vice-president of Blaze Quest. Besides, if the Net Police were able to see the news and are really concerned about it, then I'm sure that they would be able to call upon us right now in order to handle it."

"I think that it's a good idea, Chaud," ProtoMan with an even tone. "And you also made a good point. Worrying about what's happening to this city right now isn't going to help with your performance at the meeting. But if what the news said is true, then it would've probably been called off due to the magnetic disturbance. In any case, we should just get to the meeting and let things take their course."

"You've read my mind, ProtoMan," the skunk-haired Net Battler said to his Navi with a smile as he pushed the intercom button that connected towards the limo driver's seat. "When are we going to get towards our destination, Hawkins?"

"We'll reach the meeting place in a few short minutes, Mr. Blaze," said the male chauffeur through the limo's intercom system.

"Thank you, Hawkins. That's all that I would like to know," Chaud said as he released the button on the intercom system and turned his full attention back towards his Net Navi. "Well, as soon as this meeting is done and over with, I'm going to get some rest and get to the bottom of this magnetic disturbance that was going on around the city. Then perhaps, maybe we could send this green emerald shard to SciLab's research facility in order to see if it has something do with all this. I just hope that this isn't the start of something weird."

As he felt himself landing on the ground, Lan began to blink both of his eyes as well as listened to the numerous groans of his friends. Just before he could have the chance to fully regain his eyesight, he felt his collar being pulled on by someone with a good and firm grip. As soon as his eyesight fully returned, Lan found himself going face to face with the angry mutant alligator that he first saw in the allies of Dentech's Acedemy's cafeteria.

"Alright, you little punk!" he heard the green alien with the headphones saying to him as he felt his entire body being shaken by the alien. "Now that we're out of harm's way, I could take care of some business that I have with you and your little partner in crime that took that emerald away from us! Now, where is that little smart aleck friend of yours that you were with anyway? I want a piece of him too!"

"Uh, Vector, I think that you should let that poor little kid go before you make a bad impression in front of everyone here," Lan heard the voice of what appears to be his friend saying to him as the head-banded boy felt the grip of the angry alligator loosening as he tried his best to get himself out of his dizziness. "Besides, we have other things to take care of right now. Like how's Sylphiel doing after trying to warp a bunch of us to this place, wherever this place is."

As soon as he got his mind balanced and worked out, Lan suddenly heard a beautiful female voice saying while sounding as if she were really exhausted from a really long jog, "I'll...be okay...Mighty. Just a little...tired from...trying to warp...a large group of people at...once. I've only did...it for only myself...up until now."

When he turned his full attention towards where the voice came from, the head-banded teen saw the beautiful girl that was with two of the strange animal aliens panting for breath. From the way that he looked at her face dripping with sweat, she almost looked as though she just barely finished a lap around the whole school or maybe the city. As he took a further look at the young lady's clothing, Lan noticed that it looked like something from the Middle Ages that supposely has sorcerers along with magical creatures such as dragons.

_"Oh yeah, like I'll believe something as weird as that!" _he thought to himself as he continued to stare at the exhausted young girl that continued to breathe oxygen into her lungs. _"No way that a pretty girl like her is a real live sorceress that came out of her time in order to fight some powerful monster. Then again, those green ghost pirates that we all saw didn't..."_

"Oh my goodness! Everybody look around and see where we are!" his thoughts were cut short as he heard the voice of the small girl Yai shouting to everyone.

As soon as he did as he was told, Lan looked around and was in shocked for when he saw where the entire group were transported to. What he was looking at was the inside of the old tree house that's right near Yai's huge mansion. It has been years since everyone was in it, but it looked as though it were kept clean and well vacuumed since the last time that he was in here and that was about a year and a half ago.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, the head-banded Net Battler heard the calls of his friends saying all at once about what they saw. Just before he could have the chance to say anything in calm everyone at once, Lan heard the voice of his blue Navi saying to his operator with a sort of worried tone in his voice, "Lan! Just what in the world happened to you guys that caused the P.E.T.s to loose their contact with you again?

"When I tried to ask about what happened, there was nothing but static. But like last time, the electronic field had no bad side effect what-so-ever. Not a bit of data from the P.E.T. seemed to be erased from it."

"Maylu! Are you all alright?" he heard the voice of the pink Navi Roll shouting out in worry as she too seemed to regain her contact with her operator through her own P.E.T. "This powerful electronic field seemed to block off all us from you! And it looks like Mega isn't crazy after all!"

"Guts. It looks like that story he told us is real after all. Guts. Look at all of the aliens in animal costumes," he heard GutsMan saying while at the same time feeling a bit amazed at what happened. "Dex, you okay? Guts."

"Well honestly, I almost feel like a cooked T.V. dinner!" Dex responded this his Navi while at the same time feeling as though he were shivering because of a cold rain storm. "I'm cooked on the outside yet still freezing on the inside!"

"Brrrr! Aup! Aup!" he heard the voice of the cyber dog Rush adding to the big kids words just before he saw the him creating a black hole and jumping into it.

"You could say that again, Dex!" Lan heard Tory's voice saying to the large kid while at same time feeling the same thing that Dex is feeling. "Just how in the world did that girl managed to transport us all here to begin with?"

"Well, I think that she just shouted out something called, 'Chaos Control,' didn't she?" he heard the voice of Ms. Mari saying to everyone while seeing her approaching the girl with the strange medieval garments. "Excuse me uh, Sylphiel isn't it? Well, do you mind...?"

"Hey, lady! I hate to put a hold on the introductions, but can't you see that the girl is too tired at the moment in order to speak? Look, just help me to get this girl towards a comfy spot and Mighty here would be able to fill all of you in on the details," Lan heard the voice of the green alligator-like alien saying to his teacher while at the same time watching the strange creature along with his teacher approaching the beautiful person and helped her to get off the ground. "Hey, babe, you going to be alright?"

"I'll be...alright, Vector," he heard the lady named Sylphiel saying to the huge green creature while at the same time amazed at the name he just heard. "Thank you...for...your concern. Just...give me...a moment to...rest. I'll be...alright. Thank you...too for...your help...um, Ms. Mari isn't it?"

As soon as he saw the creature named Vector and Ms. Mari placing the young girl on a nearby couch in Yai's treehouse, Lan soon began to turned his full attention at the armadillo-like creature that's approaching his friend, Ms. Mari, and the girl named Sylphiel. That was when he heard the black and orange alien creature saying to them with a polite tone in his voice as he spoke to everyone in the room, "I'm sorry for my friend's behavior, everybody. It's just that Vector gets offended and mad real easy for whenever someone mistakes him for an alligator instead of a crocodile. My name is Mighty the Armadillo and I guess that we owe all of you a good explanation for everything that's happened."

The head-banded boy was surprised at how polite and human-like the alien known as Mighty was being towards everyone. But his amazement was soon forgotten for when he started to ask the armadillo with a freaked out tone, "Okay, now is the time for you to start explaining to us about what just happened back there! Just what is that Chaos Emerald did that pirate just mentioned to us and why is it that all of you are here in this world to begin with? Just exactly what are all of you and where are the rest of your friends?"

"That's one thing that I would like to know myself too, Lan. Think that you could let me get a better look at them?" he heard his blue Net Navi saying to his Net Op while at the same time raising his P.E.T. towards the direction of the black and orange alien that was in front of him. "Well, it doesn't seem to me that these guys are as dangerous as we first thought they were. Just what in the world are you, Mighty and what are you and just what are those pirates that tried to get that emerald doing here to begin with?"

Just before he could recieve an answer to his question by either the ones called Vector or Mighty, Lan soon heard the whaling of a siren echoing all throughout the treehouse. That was when he heard the voice of Maylu asking while seeing her cover her ears with both her hands, "Yai! You even managed to keep your security system on all over this place the whole time that you were out on Creamland?"

"Of course, Maylu! My family never kids around for when it comes to our security! Especially when we're far away from our summer home," the rich girl answered while he saw her pushing the button on the nearby wall and before everyone knew it, the alarm turned off and a huge screen along with an advanced control panel in front of it. "Now, let's just see who's in my property without my permission! Now, Jack in! Glyde, power up!"

As soon as he saw a red beam of light going into one of the sensor of the main panel, he saw the huge image of Yai's butler Navi appearing before them in a holographic image. That was when he heard the one called Vector saying, "Whoa! Now that is some tight gear! It almost make the stuff at Tails's place look like a playground!"

Before he could have the chance to ask about the person that Vector talked about, Lan soon turned his full attention back towards the huge screen and heard Glyde saying to everyone, "Miss Yai! I would like to inform that there's an intruder that's been running around the premises of the mansion. It appears that he just appeared out of nowhere and the defenses just responded to the threat."

"Show the intruder on the screen, Glyde!" he heard the little girl's voice saying to her Navi as he turned towards the main screen and saw another holographic screen appearing right next to it.

Just as he was about to look at what Yai's camera's have picked up through their lens, Lan heard the voice of Vector saying to everyone with a shocked tone, "Yo! That's no intruder, girl! That's our friend Miguel that it's attackin'! Call it off right now!"

As soon as he heard those words, the head-banded boy soon turned his full attention towards the other screen and saw what the green crocodile meant. What he saw was the same teenaged boy, the one who gave them all of the time that they need to escape, being attack by Yai's ridiculous and yet ruthless security system as he ran for his life. He even tried to say that he wasn't an intruder of the house and yet the system attacked him anyway for trespassing.

Just as he was about to say thing about the situation, Lan started to hear the voice of the young lady named Sylphiel beginning to shout out with a bit of worry and shocked tone, "Oh my...Miguel!"

As he tried his best to avoid the numerous obstacles that were being bombarded at him, Miguel ran as water guns that were hidden in numerous places. He was also being attacked by several mechanical attack dogs that look as though they were about to rip him to shreds with their strong metal teeth. As soon as he found a place to hide, the teen began to breathe in some oxygen into his lungs while at the same time trying to regain his strength.

"What did...I do...to...deserve this!" the teen said to himself out loud while he was doing his best to keep himself from collasping on the ground from the lost of energy before starting to think to himself. _"Man, now I know how Lan and Dex feel for when they have to deal with Yai's security system for the first time! Nothing like experiencing the real thing for yourself! _

_"Now, how am I suppose to get out of this one! I'm too weak use the power of the Chaos Control again since I've already used most of my energy to use the Ra-Tilt to get rid of those green pirates. Now what I don't understand is that how come that I've managed to sense where Sylphiel's own Chaos Energy is and yet be in a place that she's not in. I thought that I should be able to get to..." _

That was when his thoughts were cut short for when he suddenly heard the male mechanical voice of the defense system saying to him, "Intruder, there is no escape! You are trespassing on private property! You have until the count of ten before the local authorities arrive! Now what is your response?"

Miguel was a bit afraid for when he heard those words come out of the security system's voice. That was when he began to saying while at the same time continuing to put some oxygen into his mouth, "Hey, wait a minute! This is some...sort of mistake! I was...just lost and came over...here by accident! Now, just let me go and I won't be...!"

That was when his words were cut short for when he heard the voice of the security system responding to his words with a panicked tone in its voice, "Intruder is responding with a threat! Local authorities will be arriving here with heavily armed forces! A squad will be here in ten minutes to apprehend the thief!"

As soon as he heard that, the teen was soon in a panic for while he tried his best to convince the security system that he's not an intruder, "Hey, wait a minute! I'm not a thief! I just came here by accident and was looking for someone who could help me to...!"

Just before he could speak any further, Miguel soon found himself surrounded by a pack of wild-looking robot dogs that look like that they could attack him at any moment. The teen looked around the pass the robotic attack dogs in order to find some means of escape from them as well as the security system, but he found none.

_"Great! I'm going to get attacked by an advanced security system that was designed in an anime cartoon!"_ he thought to himself as he continued to scan around the area to look for some means of escape from his predicament. _"First, I'm going to be sent to a jail cell and then I'm going to be taken in for questioning about what's happened just before I get shipped up the river! How long before..." _

Just before he could finish the rest of his thoughts, Miguel suddenly heard the voice of Yai saying to him with a loud voice through some hidden speaker, "Hey you! Your name is Miguel, isn't it? There's someone who would like to speak to you!"

As he was confused about what the rich girl was talking about, the teen suddenly heard the voice of Sylphiel Nels Lahda saying to him with a nearly exhausted tone in her voice through the speakers, "Miguel! Use the Chaos Control in order to get out of there!"

"Sylphiel! Just where are you!" the brown-haired teen responded to the voice of the shrine maiden as he looked around the area in order to see where it came from. "Never mind that! Anyway, I'm too tired to use it now! All of my energy is spent doing one of the most powerful astral spells in Shaman magic. If only..."

Before he could finish the rest of his sentence, he started to hear another voice appearing from within the speaker. This time, it was the voice of Vector that spoke to him, "Yo, dude! Just use that Chaos Control of yours again and you'll end up where we are! You're not too far from where we are and it'll only cost you a small amount of energy! Just do it before your dog chow for those metal muts!"

"But Vector, I..." was all that Miguel could say before he turned his full attention back towards the huge pack of wild-looking robot dogs that bared their teeth towards his direction, getting ready to attack at any moment.

_"Well, I guess that I have no other choices to go with anyway," _the teen thought to himself as he looked all around at the mechanical dogs that were about to attack him. _"Seeing as if that I'm about to be attacked by vicious mechanical robots and police that are going to follow, I have no other choices. I just hope that there's enough strength left within me to do one more leap through time and space before I become dog food for these robo-canines. Well, here goes nothing." _

Just as he saw the dogs beginning to advance towards his direction at a faster pace, Miguel started to concentrate on finding Sylphiel's own Chaos Energy being emitted within her body. As soon as he finally found it, the teen started to shout out the time and space warping ability just before the robot dogs could leap at him, "Chaos Control!"

Before he knew it, Miguel was being engulfed by green light just before he found himself traveling through a tunnel in between both time and space towards his destination. After what he'd been through, he at least deserved to rest a bit before explaining about his presense towards some anime characters that haven't seen creatures like the Chaotix or humans like himself and Sylphiel.

As she did her best to keep herself on her feet, Sylphiel watched as the ghost-like monitor in front of her displayed her friend Miguel being engulfed in emerald-colored light before the screen went into a haze of some type. Before she could hear the reactions of everyone around her, the shrine maiden suddenly saw an eruption of the same light coming from within the room as she covered her eyes from its intense brilliance. As soon as the display of lights vanished again, Sylphiel soon found herself looking at the actual body of her friend Miguel landing on the wooden floor that looked as though it were carpeted with a nice green rug.

"Miguel! Are you alright?" the shrine maiden said to the nearly unconscious body of her friend as she got off of the soft couch and went over to him weakly. "Please say something!"

As soon as she was near enough towards Miguel's tired body, Sylphiel started to feel energy starting to flow within her body as she approached her friend's body. That was when she soon realized that she still held the near-completed Chaos Emerald in her hands. As she felt the gem's mystic and limitless energy flowing through her body, Sylphiel was starting to becoming re-energized and refreshed for as she rushed over to Miguel's side and looked over him. That was when she started to gather a huge amount of the Chaos Emerald's energy within her hand and started to place the orb of green energy over his body. Just before she could receive any comments about what she's doing, Sylphiel saw Miguel starting to get from where he was laying on and started to get on his own two feet.

"Whoa! What a rush!" she heard him saying while at the same time stretching his arms and legs just before he turned his full attention towards her direction. "Sylphiel, what you did for me was a load of help! Just exactly what did you do?"

"To be honest, Miguel, I don't know," Sylphiel responded to the brown-haired young man's words with a confused and amazed tone in her voice. "I too was feeling a bit drained of my own energy for when I've tried to get over to you to see if you're alright. Then all of a sudden, this Chaos Emerald seemed to responded to my suffering by giving me some of its powerful energies into my body and re-energized me. There was also more than enough energy for me to give to yo in order to restore your own."

Just before she could hear a type of thanks coming from Miguel, the shrine maiden soon found herself turning her full attention towards the boy named Lan shouting out very quickly while at the same time feeling confused about what he and his friends just saw, "Alright! Would the two of you mind telling us about what just happened now? I mean, both me and MegaMan just saw you both lying unconscious on the alley along with four of your animal-like friends! Just what in the world would those pirates want with that Chaos Emerald that I've just had in my hands a while ago? Let's not forget the fact that the two of you...!"

Just before either she or Miguel could have the chance to answer the young boy's question, Sylphiel started to see Vector marching up towards Lan's direction while at the same time feeling a bit annoyed for as he said to him while cutting his words short, "Look, homeboy! Miguel and Sylphiel were just spent trying to save our hides from those weird ghosts in the pirate costumes! Just try to fight a pack of wild ghost with a powerful magic spell and warp all of us to this place using an ability that drains all of the strength in your body and see how you feel! Now where is that twerp of a friend of yours that was with you for when you took that Chaos Emerald from us?"

As if to answer his question, the shrine maiden heard the voice of another boy saying to him in order to try to be the voice of reason, "Excuse me, uh, Vector! But I'm afraid that I'm the one that you're referring to! Lan, just hold me up towards this guy's direction and let him see what I mean!"

As soon as she heard those words, Sylphiel was a bit surprised for when she looked towards the boy's direction and saw him holding up a blue and strange device towards Vector's direction. From her experience of seeing devices that are far more advanced than the ones that she saw on her own world. The blue device looked as though it could be one of those games that she saw once being held in the hands of a small boy that she saw playing while she was on a tour on Miguel's world the first time that she went there.

As soon as she got a closer look at the device that the boy named Lan was holding, the shrine maiden saw a face of a young boy appearing on the screen. She saw that the boy on the screen is wearing a costume blue along with a blue helmet. She also saw a some blue hair coming out of the back of his head as she watched with pure amazement. Sylphiel turned her eyes towards Vector's direction and saw his entire lower jaw drop for when he looked at the device in his hands.

"Yo! What's that thing!" she heard the green crocodile saying to the young boy as he continued to look at the screen of the blue device with both shock and confusion in his voice. "And what is a little boy in blue doing in that video game! It almost makes Sonic want to look for a new trademark color!"

Just before she could hear either question or answer being spoken by the either side of the group, Sylphiel heard a loud whistle that came from Miguel's direction. When she realized that the loud whistle was actually coming from her brown-haired friend's mouth, the shrine maiden then turned her attention back towards the entire group of people's direction. She saw them frozen in their places just before she heard Miguel speaking to everyone.

"Alright, everyone! I think that we all need to calm down here!" she heard him saying to everyone in the room while at the same time using a calm tone in his voice. "Now that I got your attention, I think that we all need to think about things calmly.

"Now, to answer some of your questions that you have in your heads, my name is Miguel Angel Arias and the pretty young lady right next to me is named Sylphiel Nels Lahda. The green crocodile with the headphones is named Vector and the black, yellow, and orange armadillo friend of his is named Mighty. Those two are a part of a group that are known as the Chaotix. They maybe a bit weird, but they're really nice people once you get to know them."

The shrine maiden waited a moment for everyone in the group to respond to her friends words as she blushed at what he said, Sylphiel started to hear the one named Lan saying, "Well, I think it's only fair that I should introduce myself and my friends since now that we've found out that you're not really life-threatening aliens. But first, I would like to say something to that green friend of yours named Vector."

As soon as she heard those words coming from the young boy, the shrine maiden soon saw him beginning to have the courage to walk up towards Vector's direction and starting to gulp to himself as he faced the crocodile's direction. That was when she heard him saying to Vector with a nervous tone in his voice while extending his hand towards him, "Um...I don't know how to say except that I'm sorry about what both MegaMan and I said about you earlier.

"It's just that the way that you and your friends just appeared right before us is so surprising to us. That, and the fact that we didn't know the difference between both a crocodile and an alligator. I hope that we could still be friends and let bygones be bygones. So no hard feelings?"

As she continued to watch the young boy keeping his hand extended towards Vector's direction, Sylphiel soon saw the green crocodile grabbing Lan's throat and was got him in a head lock. Before she could have the chance to stop his action before he went to far, the shrine maiden started to take a closer look and found herself giggling at what she saw. What she saw was Vector rubbing his knuckles towards the very top of the young boy's head playfully like they were brothers. That was when Sylphiel heard the green crocodile saying to Lan in his cheerful tone of voice, "It's alright, little dude! I always get mad for whenever someone mistakes me for an alligator instead of a croc. In any case, I'll be glad to be your friend along with Might here!"

"Well, kid! I guess that means that Vec has finally cooled off and forgives ya!" she heard Mighty saying to Lan with a friendly tone as she saw him moving towards their direction and saw the Vector releasing his hold on the young boy and was given a pat on the back by the armadillo. "You know, not many people would have the guts to stand up to Vector like the way you did for after they tick him off. He even threatens to bite the guys head off for when..."

That was when his words were cut off for as Sylphiel heard the voice of the woman with the bun-shaped hair saying, "Okay, Mr. Mighty! We get the point! By the way, has anyone notice where Mr. Higsby went?"

As soon as they both heard those words, both Vector and Mighty began to wonder about what happened to the nerd-like person that they met a while ago.

"Yeah, come to think about it, where did that guy Honey Bee go to?" the green crocodile asked with a confused tone in his voice.

"His name is Higsby, Vector," said the boy named Lan as Vector saw him pointing his index finger behind him and saw the body of the nerdy person that bumped right into him a while ago lying on the floor unconscious. "I guess that ride that girl Sylphiel gave us must've caused him to faint. He'll be able to get up in about an hour or so."

"You could say that again, Lan," said the very large kid with a weird shark-like hairdo as he approached the body of the guy named Higsby. "Boy, he looks really out of it."

"Probably because he couldn't deal with the stress of going through that tunnel of green light like the rest of us did, Dex," said an approaching boy with brown hair and yellow hooded sweater as he joined his large friend to look at the unconscious nerd.

"Higsby must've been this way for whenever he goes to the roller coasters as amusement parks," added a girl with reddish pink hair as she too watched over Higsby's body with a smile on her face as she giggled.

"Well, I have to agree with her on this one too," Mighty began to reply as he was starting to give out a small but friendly chuckle right before he realized that he was being a bit rude. "Oh, sorry for being rude about the guy! I only thought that it...!"

"That's alright, Mr. Mighty," said the woman with the bun-shaped hair as she cut off his words with a sweet tone in her voice. "I know that you didn't mean to be rude. It was kind of funny for when Higsby fainted like that!"

"(Ahem!) I hate to be rude at a good moment like this, but I think that we are still trying to introduce each other," both Vector and Mighty heard Miguel saying to everyone in the room as he managed to get their attention as he turned to face Lan direction. "Now, Lan, I think that you should introduce yourself and your friends to us before we could get into the details of where we come from and why we're here."

"Oh, right," the two members of the Chaotix heard the young boy saying to their teenaged friend with a sort of sheepish tone in his voice. "Sorry about that. Now, as for who we are, my name is Lan Hikari and the woman with the bun-shaped haired is our teacher Ms. Mari and the guy that you're seeing on the floor is Mr. Higsby. But I'm sure that you already knew that."

That was when the young girl with the pinkish red hair began to speak as she approached both of the two Mobians, "My name is Maylu Sakurai and it's nice to see aliens from another world. Even though that they're a bit weird."

That was when both of them heard the voice of a the small blonde girl speaking to them with a sort of annoyed tone of voice, "And I'm Yai Ayano. One of the most prettiest and brillant child in the Dentech Academy and all of Kingland."

"Well, gee thanks for that bunch of info, little girl. I think," the green crocodile responded to Yai's words with a sort of nervous chuckle in his voice just before both he and his armadillo friend were approached by a boy wearing the yellow-hooded sweater.

"My name is Tory Froid," the young brown-haired boy said to the two Mobians as he extended his hand in order to shake theirs. "I must say, for animal-like creatures from another world, you both act like human beings."

"Well, we're not exactly like the animals that you guys are used to seeing, Tory," Mighty responded to the boy with a friendly tone as he shook his hand. "It's still nice to hear something like that from someone who's not too freaked out by our appearances."

"Don't you all forget about me! My name is Dex Oyama," both Mighty and Vector heard the large kid saying to them while at the same time posing in a proud pose. "I'm one of the best curry chefs in all of Dentech City and the best for when it comes to Netbattling."

"Netbattling? What is that?" both of the Mobians asked in unison as the words came from Dex's mouth.

"That's something that I would like to know myself," they heard the voice of Sylphiel suddenly saying with a curious tone. "While Vector was being confronted by Lan, I saw him holding a small device that has the image of another young boy with blue hair and wearing a blue suit."

That was when both of the Chaotix heard Lan giving out a nervous chuckle just before he spoke to them while at the same time putting up the small blue device that he held in front of Vector earlier, "Oh, you must mean MegaMan! Sorry for not introducing you four to him earlier.

"You see, he's sort of a computer program that possesses artifical intelligence that are similar to humans that could help us look for information throughout the internet. The people of this world call them Net Navigators or Net Navis for short. As for the Navis themselves, their data is safely stored within these devices called P.E.T.s or Personal Terminals. We can use them to either to into the internet for us in order to make some friends to talk to or use them on devices that had a bad case of viruses in them."

After they both hear him pause for a moment, Mighty and Vector heard the voice of the older woman named Ms. Mari saying to her student with a surprised and yet smug tone in her voice while smiling, "Why, Lan Hikari, of all the things that I've tried to teach you in my class while you were sleeping, that was the only thing that you remember? Why couldn't you remember things that I told you the other day while we were discussing our math problems?"

As soon as she finished those words, the two Mobians saw Lan beginning to blush with a shade of embarrassment on his face just before he spoke, "Hey, I was tired that day, Ms. Mari! How was I suppose to know what kind of problems there are going to be on the test!"

"Yeah, that and the fact that you always seem to do something else other than what Ms. Mari gives out," said the computer program named MegaMan with a smark alect tone just before they both saw the young headed-banded boy raising the screen of the blue device towards his face with an annoyed expression on his face.

Just before they could hear an arguement ensue between the struggle against both man and machine, both Vector and Mighty heard the voice of their friend Miguel saying to the both of them as he cleared his throat to get their attention, "(Ahem!) Um, I hate to be the one to cut in, but I think that we haven't been introduced to those Net Navis that you just mentioned before, Lan."

As soon as the two Mobians heard those words, they both saw Lan turning his full attention back towards their direction and said with a sheepish tone in his voice, "Oh, sorry. I sort of forgot to introduce our Navis to you. In any case, you've already met my Net Navi MegaMan. He could be a bit of a smart aleck at times."

"Well, at least that I don't sleep in and get late to school like some people!" they both heard the little human-like program saying to his operator while speaking at a tone that makes him sound like an older brother to Lan.

Just before they could hear the young boy say a comeback to his digital partner, both Mighty and Vector heard the voice of the girl named Maylu saying to her friend, "Now's not the time for both you and MegaMan to start going over that again."

That was when they both say her turning her own P.E.T. device, which is in a pink color, towards their direction and a saw a young girl wearing a pink outfit with a pair of antennae on her helmet. Maylu spoke with proud tone in her voice, "This is my Net Navi Roll. At first sight, she may not appear to be much, but she's tough for when it comes to Net Battles. She could also heal the bodies of other Navis as well. Oh, and the little dog that's almost looks like a cartoon is named Rush. He's a virus program that could be real helpful in tight situations."

"Aup! Aup! Aup!" both Vector and Mighty heard the voice of the cute and yet strange image of a dog barking towards their direction in order to greet them.

"Hey, don't forget about me!" the two Mobians heard the voice of the huge boy named Dex saying while holding up the screen of his own yellow P.E.T. revealing huge yellow and red Navi that looked like he could be a body builder. "This here is GutsMan and he could pound any opponent into a pulp if anyone gets in his way!"

"And this is my Navi IceMan," they both heard the boy Tory saying to the two of them while at the same time facing his own light-blue P.E.T. towards their direction revealing a small but cute little Eskimo-like Navi on the screen. "He's mostly an ice Navi that was created by my father in order to check the systems of the Water Treatment Facility."

"Let's not forget all about my Navi Glyde," the two Mobians heard the little girl Yai saying to them while facing the screen of her own brown device towards their direction revealing a Navi with wings on his back but also looked like a butler of sorts. "He may not look like a really strong Navi like the rest, but when I supply him with some of my most powerful and expensive battlechips, he can be quite fierce."

"Well, that's also good to know, little girl," Vector said to her while at the same time both he and Mighty giving out a nervous chuckle.

"Okay, now that the introductions are done, I think that the four of you owe us an explanation," Ms. Mari said as both members of the Chaotix saw facing their direction with a serious tone in her voice as well Miguel and Sylphiel's.

"Hey, yeah! Come to think about it, where are the other two friends of yours that both me and MegaMan saw just before you came to?" they heard Lan saying to them while facing his direction. "From what I saw, they were both a cute little bumble bee in a pilot's suit and purple lizard that looked like he could be a ninja."

"And let's not forget about those creepy ghosts, Lan!" Mighty and Vector heard the electronic voice of the Navi MegaMan saying to his friend while at the same time sounding scared. "Just why are they dressed up as pirates and how...?"

Just before they could hear the little blue program finish his question or hear anyone else cut in with a question of their own, the two Mobians heard the voice of their friend Miguel whistling in order to get their attention just before speaking, "Whoa! Whoa, everyone! Before anyone could have the chance to ask questions of their own, I would like to point out that we could only take one at a time. So, to make things easier, I would like to be the one to tell you all about everything that's happened that's got the six of us into this world to begin with. Now, before I could begin, would someone mind waking up the guy named Higsby?"

As soon as he heard those words come out of Miguel's mouth, Lan gave off a mischievous grin for as he spoke, "Allow me to do the honors."

Just as he approached the sleeping body of Mr. Higsby, the head-banded NetBattler heard the voice of Maylu asking him while using a curious and worried tone in her voice, "Lan, what are you going to do? You're not going to scare the living daylights out of him like you did last time, are you?"

"Of course not, Maylu," Lan answered to his female friend with a smirk on his face as turned his attention towards his friends direction. "I'm only going to say something to him that's about the only thing that could wake him up."

"Oh, I know what's he's going to do," he heard the voice of MegaMan saying to everyone, "He's going to do the same thing that I did to him whenever I tried to wake him up."

"Quiet, you!" Lan hissed at his little blue friend as he finally reached the unconscious battle chip owner and shouted out, "Hey, is that a rarity level ten battle chip that I saw right on the floor?"

As predicted, he saw the battle chip geek finally coming to life with the words that he spoke. For when he saw Higsby coming out of the floor and searching around for the chip that Lan spoke of. "Where's that rare battle chip!" the messy haired adult said as he continued to search all around the floor.

"Well, judging from the way that Higsby looking for that battle chip, I'd say that he's alright and didn't suffer any brain damage," he heard the voice of Dex saying to everyone as Lan turned and saw him wearing a smile along with his friends. Even Ms. Mari was giggling a bit about the behavior that Higsby was displaying in front of them.

Just before he could have the chance to talk to the collector of battlechips, the head-banded boy suddenly heard the voice of the green crocodile speaking to the bushy-haired adult with a concerned tone, "Yo, man, are you alright? You were out cold for when you were ridin' along with the rest of us."

"Oh, I'm alright," Lan heard Higsby saying to the Vector just as he adjusted his glasses and turned towards his direction. "I guess that what I just saw about that ride down a green tunnel of light was nothing but a..."

The moment that the head-banded boy saw the rare chip collector setting his sights towards the green crocodile's direction, he suddenly saw the bushy-haired adult suddenly starting to run around the room like a crazy person on a rampage. He was yelling out things that didn't make sense to anybody else as he screamed like a manic.

"Higsby! Higsby! Please calm down!" Lan heard the voice of his teacher saying to the Higsby with a calm and yet worried tone as she tried her best to calm him down. "These animal people that you are seeing are visitors from another world and they really aren't as harmful as they both appear to be."

"Well gee, I guess that would really help with the situation a lot, Ms. Mari!" the young boy heard the voice of the teenager named Miguel saying to Ms. Mari with a sarcastic tone of voice just as he turned and saw the young man starting to go over towards the treehouse kitchen and pouring himself a glass of water. "Now, all of you just stand aside and watch how I deal with a person who's going through a mental episode."

"Miguel, just how are you planning to do so while getting yourself a glass of water?" Lan heard the voice of the pretty young lady named Sylphiel asking the brown-haired with a sort of surprised tone while at the same time watching him taking his glass of water over to Higsby.

At first, the head-banded NetBattler thought that Miguel was going to try to calm the panicking chip collector by having him to sit down at a chair, get him to breathe in and out, and then drink out of the glass of water. But what he saw the older teenager do wasn't what he thought about at all. What he saw was Miguel suddenly splashing the water out of the glass and onto the panicking Higsby's face. Lan heard everyone gasp with both surprise and shock for when he saw the stranger from another world do that to the bushy-haired chip collector's face. Whatever he saw the older teen did, Miguel was able to calm Higsby down without much trouble at all. That was when he heard three of the voices of everyone saying about what just happened.

"Whoa! Now that's something that I didn't even think about doing before," said a rather amazed Dex as Lan saw his big friend's face staring in wonderment.

"You can say that again, man!" he heard the voice of the strange armadillo creature named Mighty saying while speaking in a similar tone as Dex. "I've never thought that Miguel could be so aggressive for when it comes to dealing with a guy nearly flipped his lid!"

"Well, at least he didn't inflict any real harm on," said Sylphiel as Lan heard her giving off a cute but nervous giggle for when she saw what happened.

"I'll say, Miss Sylphiel," he heard the voice of his childhood friend Maylu saying to the young teenaged woman as she chuckled nervously.

Before he could talk to the others about what just happened, Lan suddenly saw Miguel extending his hand out towards the now wet chip collector and said to him in a friendly tone, "Now, are you calm and better now, Higsby? If you are, then I could start to explain to you and everyone else about everything that's happened to you all so far."

While still feeling a bit surprised about what just happened, Lan saw the his strange adult friend accepting Miguel's hand and said to him while getting on his feet as he dripped water all over Yai's carpet, "Well, that would be good considering that I'm now all calm and wet! Care to tell us what's been going on here!"

"Well, all of you better sit down and listen for what I'm about to tell is going to be a really long story," Lan heard Miguel saying to Higsby as well as the entire group of his friends in order to hear what the outer-worldly teen had to say.

It soon began for when he heard Miguel talking to them all about the Chaos Emerald that both he and MegaMan once had. Apparently, it was no ordinary gem. What Miguel told them about it was that it was one of the most powerful natural forces in the universe. It possesses an unlimited amount of energy that could not only power an entire city, but a large continent as well. But not only that, it could also give a person an unlimited supply of cosmic energy and immortality.

"I don't believe that a small and beautiful gem like that could have such power," Yai said to Miguel as she looked towards his direction. "How could we be sure that what you're saying is really true?"

"Well, Miss Yai, it would make sense when think about what happened to our link with the P.E.T.s," he heard the voice of the butler Navi Glyde saying to his operator. "I mean, the electronic disturbance that we've just experienced from within our P.E.T.s emitted a large amount of energy that would be enough to cause them to over load."

"Well yeah, that's the downside with trying to use the power of the Chaos Emeralds on machines, Glyde," Miguel responded to the butler Navi as the young boy turned back towards his direction. "On regular machines like cars, phones, or other devices like them, they couldn't handle the stress when dealing when the limitless power of the Chaos Emerald.

"That's because of all of the extra energy that the emerald puts out. It's just too much to handle. You see, regular devices could drain only a little of the emerald's power while leaving out a lot of its energy behind. All of that energy wouldn't have anywhere to go and as a result of all of the excess energy being contained, it could cause a major explosion that could destroy an entire city block."

"Well gee, that's a good piece of info that we should know," he heard the voice of Tory saying with a sarcastic tone. "Now, is there anything else that we should know about the emerald that you forgot to tell us?"

As if to respond to his question, Lan saw the outer worldly teenager do the strangest thing. What he saw was Miguel extending his hand out towards the nearby glass cup on the table of treehouse and it soon glowed with a powerful white light. Before he could konw about what was happening, the head-banded boy soon saw it starting to levitated up from the table's surface and moved up towards the brown-haired teen's hand.

"Uh, could someone please tell me what just happened right in front of us just now?" Lan heard the voice of Ms. Mari saying while at the same time feeling a bit flabbergasted about what just happened.

"Well, if you're talking about the boy named Miguel just lifting a glass of water from the table to his hand with his mind, then you're not the only one who's seeing it," Maylu responded to the teacher with the same tone. "Just exactly what was the point of doing that?"

"Well, that's another effect from the powers of the Chaos Emerald, Maylu" the strange teenager boy responded while at the same time putting the glass in his hand back the same way he did the first time. "Whenever a living being is exposed to a large amount of Chaos Energy that's caused by touching an object called the Power Ring, it could enhance that person's natural abilities for a short while. In mine and Sylphiel's case, a person who's been using the powers of the Chaos Emeralds through the use of Power Rings or the emeralds themselves for a long time, it increases our natural abilities and strengths permanently."

"Speaking of which, just where is Sylphiel from anyway?" Lan heard the voice of Dex asking while he continued to be amazed at the what he just saw. "From the way that she reacted towards our P.E.T.s and how she looks and dresses, I'd say that she must've come from another time or something."

"You could say that again, Dex," Yai said the the large boy as the young blue head-banded NetBattler saw her feeling a bit jealous about the young woman that she's looking at. "From the way that she's dressed, I'd say that she were a type of priestess or someone like royalty from the Middle Ages. I must say that I'm a bit jealous about just how beautiful she is."

Just before Lan could have the chance to ask a question of his own, he heard Miguel saying to the beautiful girl named Sylphiel while also seeing her face blushing red and feeling a bit embarrassed about what they just said, "Why don't you tell them about where you come from Sylphiel? You could tell all about your world better than I could."

"Well, I'll try to do the best that I can, Miguel," he heard the pretty young girl saying to her friend just before she turned towards everyone in the room and spoke while clearing her throat. "Now, I should start by saying that I'm..." That was how her own explanation began.

From what he and his friends could gather, it seems that Sylphiel came from a world where magic exists. It's also filled with creatures that are thought to only exist in the fairy tales that he heard once in kindergarden. Lan and his friends also know for a fact that in the world that she lives in, there was a war going on. A war that was between the beings of light known as the Gods and creatures of darkness known as the Monsters. The leaders of these two forces are known as Ciephied the Red Dragon God and the Dark Lord named Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo. She also said that there was a battle between these two beings that was so fierce that it split her worlds continents into the seven that she herself didn't know that existed.

"Now, as for the outfit that I'm wearing right now, it's actually a part of what I do in my world," Lan heard Sylphiel say just as he saw her twirling herself around like a model and showed what looked like a staff in her hands with a crystal ball on its top before speaking again. "You see, I used to be a holy shrine maiden in a city called Siaraag. A shrine maiden like me is a lady who specializes in using only white magic, which is used to treat the injuries of a person who's been in a accident or is falling ill."

"Well, if that's the case, then could you maybe help heal this headache that I'm having?" Lan heard the voice of Higsby asking Sylphiel while seeing the bushy-haired adult rubbing onto his temples in order to sooth the pain in his head. "I mean, this pain just won't stop bothering me since I've woken up and that sudden bath that your boyfriend gave me didn't help much with it as it did with my panic attack."

A long sigh of annoyance can be heard from the entire group. All except Sylphiel that is for as Lan saw her going over to Higsby and place one of her hands over his head. Just before the boy could have the chance to ask about what she was doing, he suddenly heard her speaking these words for as he also saw a white light enveloping her entire hand:

"_**Oh, blessed and humble hand of God, **_

_**life and breath of Mother Earth,**_

_**come before me and show your great compassion and deliver us.**_

_**Recovery!" **_

****Just before he ask about what she just chanted, Lan saw the white light that was all around her hand suddenly jumping off of it and starting to surround Higsby's entire body. After a moment of silence from everyone, the white light disappear from sight and he saw the beautiful young woman starting to back away from the bushy haired adult just before speaking to him.

"So, how are you doing now, Mr. Higsby?" Sylphiel asked the rare BattleChip collector with a sort of concerned tone of voice. "Is your head all better?"

"Well actually, yes miss," Higsby responded just before starting to feel a bit more cheery than usual. "As a matter of fact, I'm feeling much better than I have most of these days! The pain within my neck is gone and now I'm filled a new energy that I haven't felt in years! Yahoo!"

With those words said and done, he suddenly saw the bushy-haired adult starting to jump and run around the entire treehouse like a little kid. Lan sweatdropped at what he saw just as he spoke, "Well, it looks like Higsby's back!"

"But not to normal," he heard the words of his entire group of friends saying in unison as they continued to watch Higsby jumping all around the inside of the treehouse.

Just before he could have the chance to tell Higsby about what just happened, he heard the voice of the crocodile named Vector saying to him, "Tell me something, little homie, does that guy Hugsbee always act like this?"

Before he could have the chance to answer his question, Tory spoke up by saying with a curious tone, "So is that how a shrine maiden like you heals a person's injuries, miss Sylphiel?"

"Well yes, Tory," Sylphiel said to the brown-haired operator of IceMan. "The powers of the Recovery spell could only help to speed up the healing abilities of that person that I'm using my magic on. Usually, it could cause that person to become exhausted, but in Mr. Higsby's case, he seemed to be experiencing a lot of energy flowing through his body and..."

Before she could finish the last words to her sentence, Lan heard the voice of Higsby voice saying to everyone while at the same time pointing his index finger towards both Vector and Mighty, "Hey, could we talk about that later? Right now, I'm more interested to know about these two named Vector and Mighty! Just what in the world are they and where do they come from?"

That was when a thought occurred to Lan that he never thought of asking himself before he spoke to everyone, "Yeah, come to think of it, when I've first saw these guys the first time, there were four of them in the group. One looked like a small bee while the other is purple lizard with a golden horn."

"Oh, you must mean Charmy and Espio," he heard the response coming from Vector as the young boy saw the green croc with the earphones starting to walk up towards him with a friendly smile on his face. "I wouldn't worry about those two. They are able to avoid being spotted by anyone in this city using their own unique abilities. As a matter of fact, I think that the four of us better get back to the meeting place to see if they've found any clues of where the final shard of the emerald went."

"(Ahem!) I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Mr. Vector," Lan heard the voice of Glyde saying to Vector in a polite manner while turning towards Yai's direction as he saw her raising her P.E.T. to see what was going on. "But I've just received some news coverage about what's happened within Dentech Academy and some of it may be rather shocking. Perhaps if I show you all, then you'll see what I mean. Miss Yai, if you would be so kind as to turn on the Television?"

"Certainly, Glyde," was the rich girl's response as she grabbed a random remote from on top of the table and switched on the flat screen T.V. on the wall. Before he could ask about what was happening, the head-banded boy soon found himself looking at the new shooting live footage of his school being surrounded by police cars, Net Saviors, and news crews all around it.

As soon as he turned his eyes towards the huge flat screen of the treehouse that he was in, Miguel listened in as Ribbita made her appearance at the scene in Dentech Academy with her professional new reporter attire, "Hello, everybody! This is Ribbita from DNN here live at scene that just occurred here at Dentech Academy to bring you some breaking news.

"Just about an hour ago, two pillars of green light appeared right out of two parts of Dentech City. One appeared right out of the busiest part of town while the other came from right at this spot. But what we just heard from eyewitnesses a few moments ago really takes this story right to a new level. One man reported that as soon as he saw the green pillar of light disappearing from the building, he suddenly saw a person dressed in a werewolf costume leading a gang of what he reports to be pirates.

"A woman who was just on her way home from the market also reported seeing the subjects going into the building while holding rather strange swords and weapons. She claimed that she thought that it must've been something that would soon at the school for this upcoming Halloween. However, she then reported on seeing large amounts of silver light enveloping the school in its brilliance. But the strangest thing is that nothing, not even one, trace of damage was sighted in the school for when she called the local police.

"As both the police along with the assistance of the local Net Saviors tried to look through the school's surveillance cameras for evidence on who or what was responsible for the great disturbance, all they've found is nothing but corrupted data. It seems that whatever caused the phenomenon, it disrupted all of data recorded within the devices. However, we were able to find this piece of footage amongst the data."

As soon as he heard the female reporter finishing her sentence, Miguel started to look at what appears to be a whole bodied fizzled out image of himself standing and looking around the area that he was in before seeing it pause in place.

"What you're all seeing is the image of a young man in the middle of one of the rooms. We can't seem to get a good image at the moment, but this footage is the only piece of evidence leading to who was responsible for the huge disturbance that nearly sent the people of Dentech in a panic. We'll..."

That was all that Miguel could hear from the female reporter before the huge T.V. screen was turned off by Yai. Before he knew it, the teen had everyone turning their full attention towards his direction and looked at him with surprised expressions on each of their faces. Ms. Mari was the first to speak her mind as she turned her attention towards both Mighty and Vector.

"Well, it would seem that two of your friends named Espio and Charmy aren't going to be there after all, Mr. Vector," the bun-haired teacher said to the crocodile as she started to think about what she and her students just saw. "From what the news report said, it seems that they are likely to be anywhere else. Otherwise, we would have heard about people reporting strange animal creatures by now."

That was when Miguel heard MegaMan speaking up by saying, "Well, I have to agree with Ms. Mari on this one guys. I mean, if what both Vector and Mighty said is true, then both of their friends could almost be anywhere in the city. Now, the question would be where those guys went?"

As soon as both he and Charmy reached the human woman's home, Espio expected the inside to be like the home that Miguel lived in his world. But to his surprise, the purple chameleon saw that it was a very neat and nicely kept home. The living room, the kitchen, the dining area, just about every part of the house that both he and his small bee friend were in was nice and clean.

As soon as both he and Charmy were at the edge of kitchen that was also near the dining room, Espio soon heard the woman saying to the two of them, "Alright, while I fix up dinner for the famliy tonight, the two of you could go to the living room and make yourselves right at home. You could watch a little T.V. if you like. The remote is on the couch. It'll take a while for me to get dinner ready so please be patient."

"Well, don't worry about us, miss! We could wait for your delicious meal to be ready! Thanks for inviting us to your home!" the ninja chameleon heard the voice of his young bee friend saying to the woman that kindly invited them into her home with a loud and yet polite tone of voice.

"The two of you could call me Mrs. Hikari if you wish, Espio," he heard the woman's voice saying to Charmy's words with a soft giggle as Espio heard the sound of the stove starting to sizzle as a sign that she's cooking. "Most of the adults around he call me by my first name, Haruka."

"Well, in any case, thanks for allowing us to come into your home, Mrs. Hikari," the purple chameleon said to Mrs. Hikari with a polite tone in his voice as he turned towards his small and young friend's direction and saw Charmy starting to make himself comfy on the seemingly comfortable and large couch in the living room before thinking to himself. _"I just hope that Vector and the others find the kids that took the emerald shards and get back to the meeting place without having any of the people here to see them and getting suspicious about their appearance. I just hope that Vec won't plan on biting our heads off once he finds out that both me and Charmy having dinner with a human woman that just invited us into her home for dinner. Well, I just hope that wherever they are, they are at someplace safe." _

Just as he thought these words, Espio heard the youthful voice of his bee friend saying to him while turning to see the young Mobian on the soft couch, "You've got to sit on this couch and relax a bit, Espy! It's the softest thing that I've ever sat on! I wonder what kind of cartoons or T.V. shows do they have in this wor...!"

Just before Charmy could have the chance to finish those words, the purple chameleon started to quickly cover his young friend's mouth and spoke to him in a quiet and yet serious tone of voice, "Shhhh! Easy with what you say around Mrs. Hikari, big mouth! Don't forget that she still doesn't know about us being from another world or about our abilities and powers and would think that we were either crazy or just freak at the idea! So let's just play the parts of being harmless kids and keep our mission about finding the last piece of the Chaos Emerald to ourselves. You could play around and relax as much as you want, but keep quiet about us being from another world. There's no need to cause any panic towards this nice woman. Is that clear?"

As soon as he saw his bumble bee friend starting to nod in order to respond to the purple chameleon's words, Espio heard the worried voice of the woman named Haruka Hikari starting to say to the both of them as he released his hands from over Charmy's mouth, "Is everything alright over there, you two? Is something the matter?"

Before he could have the chance to explain about what was happening, the purple chameleon heard the voice of Charmy saying to the beautiful woman as he spoke with a sounding innocent tone, "Oh, it's nothing really, Mrs. Hikari! My friend Espio is just being his usual serious self for whenever we talk about our business! No big deal!"

As soon as he heard those words come out of the young bee's mouth, all the ninja chameleon wanted to do to his young friend at the moment was bonk him over head for what the young Mobian just said. But before he could do so, Espio heard the voice of Haruka Hikari saying, "Oh, well just be sure that the two of you don't playing too rough with each other! The two of you could help me out in the kitchen if you like."

"Well, no thanks, Mrs. Hikari," the purple chameleon responded to the woman's voice with a friendly tone while at the same time forgetting all about bonking Charmy on the head with this fist. "The two of us are rather lousy cooks and I think that we might be only in the way of your cooking! But thanks for offering us to help you! We'll just watch some T.V. a bit while you get the food ready!"

"Well, suit yourselves, boys!" said Mrs. Hikari just as the two Mobians heard her starting to put some food into the stove of the kitchen.

"Good! Now let's just see what's on the tube!" Espio heard the voice of his young bee friend saying as he turned as saw Charmy picking up the remote on the couch while sitting on top of it with a smile on his youthful face.

_"Well, like they say, 'If you can't beat them, join them.'" _the purple chameleon thought to himself as he gave out a sigh of defeat and started to sit along with his small bee friend as he turned his full attention towards the T.V.'s screen in the living room.

As soon as the decent-sized screen of the television set came to life, both Espio and Charmy saw it coming to a news report. The person that they saw on the screen of the flat wall bound T.V. was a young woman in her early twenties wearing a hat that seems to resemble a frog's head. The rest of her attire however, is a green professional suit that describes her job. Just then they heard the woman saying while at the same seeing a picture of what appears to be the same building that both he and Charmy left the others at.

"Good evening folks! This is Ribbita from DNN News here live at Dentech Academy continuing to bring you coverage of what just happened a few moments ago. There was not only one but two powerful bursts of green pillars of light appearing right above two parts of Dentech City. This area being one of the sources of the huge disturbances of the green pillars of light, Dentech Academy seemed to emitted a powerful electric field that disrupted any electrical devices near the area. Not only that, but most witnesses that were in the area at the time claimed to see the entire building of Dentech Academy being engulfed in a blanket of white silvery light. The strangest thing about it is that whatever caused the large explosion of light, it didn't seem to cause any amount of damage what-so-ever.

"What you're seeing on the screens of you television sets is our news equipment experiencing technical difficulties for there is still a rather large field of great energy still present in the area. At the moment, our news crew as well as numerous amounts of police and Net Saviors on the scene are still trying to gather evidence about what was the cause of the huge disturbance that occurred in our beloved city. But what they could gather so far from the security of the school camera's are nothing but corrupted data. Our crew has only managed to get this one piece of footage from the Net Saviors and is only piece of evidence that we have at the moment."

As soon as he heard those words coming from young woman's mouth, Espio saw what appears to be a digital picture appearing from all over the screen of the television set. From the way that purple chameleon looked at it, the picture looked as though it were ruined somehow. But as he took a closer look at the picture that the television set was showing to the two of them, Espio realized that what he was looking at was their human friend Miguel standing in the middle of the image. Despite the fact that the picture was a bit scrabbled and fizzled, the shape and form of the young man in front of his eyes was unmistakable.

"What you're seeing right now is a young man in his teens standing in the middle of one of the room of Dentech Academy's class rooms," the woman named Ribbita said as the image of Miguel's fizzled form continued to remain on the screen just before the reporter spoke again. "However, because of the large amount of electronic interference this area is emitting and how corrupted the data is, the image of the person is a bit fuzzy. Therefore, we cannot identify exactly who this young man is. However, some the Net Saviors in charge of the investigation say that they'll do what they can in order to restore the data in order to identify..."

That was all that the purple chameleon could hear just before the T.V. turned off leaving nothing but a blank screen. That was when he realized that Charmy was the one who shut off the television set as he turned towards his direction and saw his young friend's face filled with both shock and surprise at what they saw.

Before the two of them could respond to one another, Espio heard the voice of Mrs. Hikari saying to the two of them while having a curious and worried tone in her voice, "What's the matter you two? Couldn't find the channel that you wanted to watch? Just exactly what did the news say about...?"

Just before he could allow Mrs. Hikari to finish the rest of her question, the purple chameleon started to say to her by saying, "No, it's nothing, Mrs. Hikari! It's just there's nothing good on T.V., that's all! I think that both me and Charmy will go to the kitchen and help you with making that dinner after all! Just tell us what we need to do and we'll get right on it!"

"Well, that's just generous of you boys!" the woman responded with a happy tone in her voice as both he and Charmy looked at one another while letting outs sighs of relief. "The two of you could start by helping me chop up some vegetables for the curry that I'm making. They're right on the table and be careful for when you use the knives. And don't forget to wash your hands before you do."

"Oh, don't worry about us, Mrs. Hikari!" Espio heard the young bee friend saying to the woman in the kitchen. "We're both skilled at handling knives and my mother always needed help in the kitchen for when it came to chopping or peeling the vegetables."

"Well, that's real sweet of you!" the purple chameleon heard Mrs. Hikari saying to the young bee with a sweet tone in her voice. "The bathroom's down the hall that's near the living room and it's on your right for when you go by the hallway."

As soon as she finished her instructions about how to get to through the house, Espio then started to speak to Charmy as the two of them walked towards the entrance of the hall of the house that the woman mentioned while keeping his voice as quietly as possible so that no one unexpected would hear, "Did you saw that I think you just saw on the T.V., little guy?"

"Of course I did, Espy!" Charmy responded to him as both the purple chameleon and the bee found the door to the bathroom. "Miguel was caught on video from one of the security cameras in that building that we left them in. But from the looks of it, I'm relieved that they didn't get a clear picture."

"Well, that's not what worries me, little man," Espio said to the small bee as the two of them entered a very clean and well-kept bathroom and walked towards the sink. "What I'm more concerned about is where all of the guys have went. From what that reporter said, They didn't seem to find any trace of their existence anywhere."

"Well, if that's the case, then they could be anywhere in this city," Charmy said to him as he hovered himself over to the sink and allowed the running water to go over his hands. "Both Miguel and Sylphiel have the power to use the Chaos Control to warp anywhere in this large city without having to be spotted by the locals around here. Those two, along with Vector and Mighty, could be almost anywhere in this world. For all we know, they could all be somewhere on a deserted island about a million miles from here."

"Well, wherever they are, I hope it's somewhere out of sight from the people of this world," Espio responded to the small young bee as he to rubbed his hands along with soap and water in his hands just before he started to towards a pair of clean and dry towels. "I don't think that the people of this world is ready to set their sights on looking onto beings from another world. We get enough of that from Miguel's world as it is."

"You could say that again, Espy," Charmy replied to his words as the purple chameleon watched the bee flying over to where he was and grabbed a dry towel of his own. "I still remember the time about how the people reacted to our appearances saying that we looked like the real thing for when we first appeared in that world. The most surprising thing about it is that we're nothing but cool fictional characters to the people that saw us."

"Let's just forget about that memory for now, Charmy and let's focus on trying to help Mrs. Hikari," Espio said to his bee friend while finishing drying his hands. "We don't want the nice lady to think that we would want to avoid helping her with the curry. Besides, we could worry about finding out where the others are after we finished eating and regaining our strength."

"You're right, Espy," he heard the bee saying to him while finishing drying his hands and landing his feet on the floor of the bathroom and beginning to head towards the door. "We could worry about finding the last emerald piece right after we regroup with the others and we can't do that on an empty stomach. So, let's go and help the pretty lady with her dinner."

With those words said and done, Espio saw Charmy starting to exit the room by foot, he started to think to himself as he too exited the bathroom, _"Well, let's just hope that once we do get our strength back, both me and Charmy would be able to find the others with no problems. But right now, I just hope that wherever they are is someplace safe and out of sight of this world's local authorities as well as the people. Now, the thought that's been bugging me since we arrived here is that if we may have ruined this world's natural balance by just setting foot here?"_

**End of Part 4**


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 5**

**Note to readers:** Sorry for the delay in trying to continue the story everyone. It's just been a tough week for me while I was trying to find some new ideas for this next part. In any case, I'm glad that I was able to finish it late than never. Now, I would like to thank the group called **Generation-A **for their continued support for this story as well as my life. I would also like to thank **Anime Master Zero **for giving me the inspiration to go on with my stories. He keeps reminding me what I want to do my stories for. Thanks alot man. I would also like to thank **Generation-A **for allowing me to use the characters Air Jay and Maliska for my stories. And don't worry, they are going to be in this part of the story.

I would like for you all to keep in mind that I'm trying my very best to do a very good story. I would also like to remind you that the anime and game characters mentioned in this story do not belong to me but to their rightful owners mentioned in the **Part 1.** Due to the language that would soon be in this fic, the rating of this story would have to be changed in order to be suitable for teens and adults. Also, both Air Jay and Maliska belong to **Generation-A **and Shogar and Shade the Red Shadow as well as Nightmare Parasite are created by me. Thank you for your attention and now enjoy!

While watching the events unfold within its own dominion, Nightmare Parasite began to chuckle to itself as it watched through the many bubble like windows within its own private sanctuary. With the powerful Chaos clone creature was Professor Diol watching along with his master. What the creature and its servant saw was numerous images of its enemies Miguel and Sylphiel along with the Mobians the Chaotix in separate situations. They also saw another human with skunk-colored hair having in his possession a piece of the Chaos Emerald that he got his hands on by chance.

"Now, this seems to be interesting, Lord Parasite," the aged saged said to the liquified creature as he was becoming interested with what's happening in the world that they've sent Dilgear and the pirate spirits to. "One piece of this Chaos Emerald seemed to activate on its own is in the hands of a young human boy while its near-completed progenitor is in the hands of those humans and their comrades. It's also emitting an energy that's just too powerful for any type of machinery that the world has to handle."

"But there's more to it than that, Diol," Nightmare Parasite said to the sage while never taking its three green eyes off of the bubble-like screens. "You see, the powers of the Chaos Emerald is not only causing some natural interferences from within that world, but it is also causing the very fabric and boundaries of its reality to break down as well. In short, the dimensional fabric that the plane of the Cyber World which is connected to the human world is starting to fall apart."

"Are you saying that about any creature that inhabits this Cyber World near the plane of the humans could just walk into their realm whenever they like, Lord Parasite?" asked the voice of the vampire named Shade the Red Shadow appearing before them.

"Exactly, my marvelous creation," Nightmare Parasite replied to its creation as it continued to watch the events on the many screens. "You see, what that human Miguel and his friends had just unwittingly introduced into that universe is a very potent and yet unknown element to the people of that plane of existence. A being going into that reality isn't enough to trigger an interference in that world's natural process in evolution. But a powerful item, like the Chaos Emerald, that just entered into a world that doesn't have any special procautions against its very potent energies could very much do the trick. As a result, the dimensionl barrier of the Cyber World that exists along with the world of the humans would start to break down. Therefore, allowing not only the inhabitants of the Cyber World to cross over into the human world, but other beings from another universe as well."

"Why that's simply amazing, Lord Parasite!" Professor Diol said to the powerful liquified creature as he was astonished with the latest info being given to both him and Shade. "Who could've thought that a little green gem like that could possess the latent ability to break down and rip the very fabrics of that reality? Well, I could tell you that the humans that inhabit in that world would get more than they bargained for when they tried to study and harness its intense cosmic energies."

"But what of that werewolf called Dilgear, Master Parasite?" the vampire asked his Master with a curious tone in his voice. "What should we do with him if he should fail in his mission to bring that Chaos Emerald to you as you intended? It's pretty clear that the human Miguel has the ability to wipe out those spirits that you've summoned to accompany him in his quest."

"I wouldn't worry about that, Shade," Nightmare Parasite said to its powerful vampire creation while not taking its three green eyes off of the screens. "Thanks to the genetic enhancements that Diol made to Dilgear, he should be more than enough for that human Miguel and his friends could handle. Plus, the people of that world will soon have a taste of the terror that I planned on bringing to the world of where both the Ruby Eye and the Red Dragon Lord. Hee! Hee! Hee!

"But just in case things do go wrong, I'm planning on sending you to that world in order to look after the werewolf as well as take care of some...unwanted pests that would choose to get in the way of my plans. But before you do that, I want you to order some of your subordinates to go to your post and guard your brothers and sisters while you're away! Now go and spread some fear and terror to any humans or creatures that dare to get in the way!"

"As you wish, Master Parasite," Shade responded to his creator just before pulling his long and red cape over his head and started to vanish into a cloud of cold and red mist without leaving a trace of his existence.

As both Nightmare Parasite and Diol continued to watch the scenes developing inside of the world where their enemies are at, the creature soon felt the presenses of two beings entering the into the room that they're in now. That was when it heard the young and upset voice of Air Jay saying to the two of them, "Yo, man! What's up with that! How come that suck-up vampire gets to have all of the action while the two of us are stuck here doing nothing! Now, this is just bullshit!"

"Well, Air Jay, maybe both Lord Diol and Parasite would allow us to if you're not so much of an asshole with all the others!" Nightmare Parasite heard the female Maliska saying to her companion as both it and Diol turned to see them at one of their usual fights. "I mean, do you really think that you could beat that any of those guys even if you tried? I mean, you couldn't even beat a potato and they're soft enough to be your mama!"

"Says who, bitch?" the raven-haired teen responded to the fiery-haired girl with a twitch on his eye. "I mean, the last time that I've recall you ever being as suck up as that pretty boy of a vampire is for when both Lord Diol and Parasite said for us to be the servants of that guy! I even saw a little shade of red starting to developing on your face...!"

"SHUT UP, AIR JAY!" Maliska said to the the long-haired teenaged boy just as she started to gather up blue energy within her hands. "At least I'm not some whore loving boy that's obsessed with some girl's huge breasts and is attracted to her fat a..."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!" Air Jay responded to the girl's words with an angry tone that matched the fiery aura that surrounded his body.

Just as they were both going to launch their attacks towards one another, Nightmare Parasite began to erect an invisible barrier between the two just as it spoke, "That's enough of this spat from the two of you. Now, I suggest that the two of you calm down before things start to get rather messy."

As soon as they both heard those words, both contenders lowered the strength of their attacks until they were calm once more. While turning its attention towards the glaring rivals, the liquified creature began to the two of them while sounding a bit amused, "Now, Maliska. Air Jay. Why is it that drives the two of you to attack one another for whenever you both have an arguement? Whatever the reason, I have task for the two of you so that you could both be rid of that extra hot air between you. I want the both of you to go into Lord Ruby Eye and Ciepheid's world and capture as many Bra Demons that you could gather. Bring them back to this dimension by any means, but I want them brought back here alive."

"You've got to be kidding me, man!" Air Jay said to Nightmare Parasite with a sort of annoyed and disappointed tone in his voice. "Why do we have to get this job? Why not get two of your other Generals do that for you? They could easily get those demons of yours in mere seconds!"

"Allow me to be the one to answer that for you, Air Jay," Diol said as the old sage looked as if he was upset with his creation. "You see, we still don't know whether both you or Maliska have enough power to deal with the mission that will soon be at hand. So what better way to test your powers than on a pack of powerful wild Bras Demons?"

"And now for your second question, young man," Nightmare Parasite said to the black-haired teen as it looked at the two humanoid creations of the old sage. "You see, both Drakon and Shogar are already assigned to more important tasks at hand. Drakon is gathering pack of dragons for his own army at Ciepheid's and Ruby Eye's world while Shogar is in another universe gathering advance computer data for one of our very special and old guests. They also have orders to eliminate any obstacles that would get in their way."

"Just who is this guest that you're talking about anyway, Lord Parasite?" Maliska asked while at the same time bowing respectfully at the liquid life form.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about him, Dear," the Chaos clone said to the female while at the same time turning its full attention back towards the numerous bubble-like screens. "He's just a mere scientist that has the same ambitions as any other old scientist. But, I'll explain everything to you once you both have returned from your mission and once Shogar has returned with the data that he was suppose to get."

"Well, at least that perverted black phantom isn't going to be anywhere near me for a while," the red-haired teenaged woman said while as letting out a sigh of relief just as she turned towards Air Jay's direction. "Come on, Air Head, we got us some demons to gather."

"The name's Air Jay, bimbo!" the raven and long-haired teenager responded to his female companion just before the two of them disappeared out of existence to begin their task at hand.

While hearing the voices of both Vector and Mighty reassuring that both Charmy and Espio are going to be fine thanks to their abilities, Miguel heard almost about everyone in the room sighing with relief about what they just heard. He even heard their Navis starting to feel both amazed and relieved about what they just heard about their visitors.

The teen then suddenly heard the voice of Higsby saying to the two of them while speaking in a curious tone, "Well, now that that's been cleared, could the two of you tell us exactly what you are and what planet do you come from?"

As soon as he heard those words come out of the chip collector's mouth, Miguel started to hear the voice of Vector clearing his throat just as he said, "Now, as for me and the rest of my pals, we're known as the Chaotix!

"We're a group of people that come from a planet named Mobius. We're known as Mobians. The truth is, our kind never really had any encounters with humans like you for some time. Well, the one human-like being that we know is called Dr. Eggman Robotnik! He's just some doctor that's an expert in making powerful and yet crazy robots to terrorize our planet. As for where he actually came from himself, that's a mystery. So, that's about all that we could tell you for now."

After the green crocodile's explanation, the teen saw the expressions of the entire group of game/anime characters from the MegaMan NT anime series staring at them like they couldn't believe what they just heard.

Miguel then heard the voice of Lan saying to them while still feeling a bit shocked about what he along with his friends just heard, "Well, I got to say that you guys have a rather interesting world that you guys live in. It also must be tough having to deal with that Robotnik Eggman character spreading all sorts of terror to your world."

"Hey, there's no need for you and your friends to start making a bit deal about it, Lan," the armadillo said to the head-banded boy while at the same time trying to sound polite. "Right now, our world should be the least of our concerns. What I'm most concerned about is what happened to both Espy and Charmy."

That was when Miguel spoke up by saying, "Well, I wouldn't worry much about those two right now, Mighty. With their abilities, I doubt that the people around here would be able to spot them. But what I'm concerned about the most is what happens if those Net Saviors found out that I was in that building that caused all that interference with my Ra-Tilt spell."

"Ra-Tilt? Just what in the world is that, Miguel?" he heard the voice of Tory asking with a curious tone in his voice.

Just before he could have the chance to explain about the astral spell, the teen suddenly heard the voice of Sylphiel cutting in while speaking in a polite tone, "Well Tory, the Ra-Tilt is a spell that could be used to attack a target's astral body from the astral plane. It doesn't cause any physical damage to buildings or huge structures of the sort, but it can be dangerous for when aimed at a large group of humans that still have their spirits. It could also be used against a large amount of ghosts if the person is to be outnumbered. But it could nearly wipe out the spirits of hundreds of people within a city as well."

"Well, gee! Thanks for that little source of information, Miss Sylphiel," Miguel heard the sarcastic voice of Roll saying to the shrine maiden with her tone of voice. "Why didn't you mention that little detail for when we...?"

That was when the pink Navi's words were soon cut off for when her own operator saying with a rather scolding tone of voice, "Roll, that definitely wasn't called for! Besides, no one human was in the building for when Miguel used that astral spell of his to get rid of those pirate ghosts that threatened to kill us!"

"S-Speaking of w-which, what w-were they a-anyway?" Miguel heard the voice of the blue Navi MegaMan asking out loud while at the same time feeling afraid. "Could someone explain to m-me what were t-those things that just came out of n-nowhere and demanded f-for that Chaos Emerald that t-they wanted?"

That was when the teen turned his full attention towards Lan's direction and saw him raising his P.E.T. towards his face in order to see how his Navi was doing. That was when the same thought hit his mind just as he answered, "Well to be honest, we don't know. We haven't met up with anything like those ghosts back in my world."

He then turned his attention towards both Vector and Mighty and said to them, "How about you guys? Have you seen these types of ghosts like these back in your world?"

"No, Miguel. I'm afraid that neither me or Vec has seen anything like those ghosts before," the armadillo said as he looked as confused as Vector was.

"You got that right, Might," Miguel heard the green crocodile responded to his friend while turning and seeing him as confused as his friend. "I mean, the only things that we were used to fighting were the 'bots that Eggman sent at us. We've never actually had to fight with real live ghosts before."

"Well, ghosts aren't really uncommon in the world that I've come from," the teen heard Sylphiel saying to the everyone with a thoughtful tone in her voice. "However, I've never really heard of ghosts that could take on the forms of pirates. Also, I noticed that these type of spirits sort of emitted small amounts of the Chaos Emerald's power within them. There's no way that they could be ordinary ghosts dressed up as pirates."

"Well whatever the reason, I think that we should just find a way to regroup with both Charmy and Espio so that way we could figure this whole thing out," Miguel said to everyone in the entire group. "From what we just saw, things are bound to get worse if the people here were to find out now that people from another world just came into this one. So I think that as soon as the four of us find out where both Espio and Charmy are and regroup, we should just lay low until we finally that last piece of the Chaos Emerald and then we could get back to our own worlds.

"We can't just leave those two wondering around in this city by themselves. Plus, there's the concern about someone coming across the last piece of the emerald. For all we know, that person could've discovered how to harness that one piece's energy and using it for whatever reason he or she might have for it. We can't just leave this world with that shard of the Chaos Emerald still out there somewhere."

Just before he could hear anyone ask a question about the situation, the teen heard the voice of Ms. Mari saying with a rather shocked tone, "Oh my goodness! I almost forgot all about the Halloween Horror Night! I still have to get it done right before Halloween, which starts next Tuesday! What am I going to do? After all of the craziness that just happened to all of us a while ago, how am I going to get all of the planning and decorations done in time? Even with the help of the kids, I can't do this all by myself!"

That was when Miguel heard the voice of Vector starting to speak to the bun-haired teacher by saying with a calm tone in his voice, "Well, I don't know about all of you guys, but I'm really starving! I haven't eaten anything since we've arrived in this world!"

"Vector! Now is not the time to be thinking with your stomach!" the teen heard the voice of Mighty saying just as he turned towards the armadillo and saw an annoyed expression on his face. "How could you think of food for when two of our friends are at this very city feeling cold and hungry...!"

Miguel heard the words of the the annoyed armadillo being cut off for when he, as well as everyone else, heard the sound of someone stomach growling like a tiger. That was when he soon realized that the loud growling sound came from the stomach of Mighty himself just as he turned and saw the Mobian blushing with a bright shade of red on his face.

"Well, looks like Vector isn't the only person that's starting to grow hungry!" the teen heard the voice of Lan saying to the armadillo as he turned and saw the boy smiling at the Mobian. "Now, that I think about it, can anyone tell me what time is it now?"

"It's about to be about 5:30 p.m., Lan," responded the voice of the blue Net Navi MegaMan responding to his operator with a serious tone. "From what I recall, mom said that you were suppose to be at home right before that time."

"Well that's sort of strange for you, Lan," Miguel heard Maylu saying to her childhood friend with a giggle in her voice. "Usually for when it comes to food, you're the first one to go running home. By now, your mom's probably making that curry dinner that you like so much."

"Ack! That's right!" Lan replied to the young girl's words just as the older teen watched the young head-banded boy starting to go out towards the door. "I've promised my mom that I'm going to get back home as soon as I'm finished with the meeting! Oh, all of that curry is going to waste! I got to go!"

"Hey! Wait a minute, Lan!" Miguel heard the voice of Tory saying to him. "What are we going to do about...?"

Just before the brown-haired boy's could reach him, the older teen saw Lan starting to starting to exit the room while at the same time fastening the roller blades that were attached to his backpack and was out the door before anyone could blink. "Whoa! I guess that Lan must be really hungry," Miguel heard Dex saying to everyone with a surprised tone of voice.

"Yo! That little dude can't just go out on the street like that, Dex!" Vector responded to the large kid's voice just as the older teen turned and saw the green crocodile looking pretty annoyed at Dex. "I mean, for all we know, those green ghosts could still be out there and could jump him at any moment!"

"(Gasp!) Then that would also mean that my poor little Mega would be in trouble too!" Miguel heard the cybernetic voice of Roll shouting out loud just as he noticed that she was beginning to worry as well as becoming a bit too dramatic. "He's just simply afraid of ghosts. If any were to happen to terrify him so much, then I'm..."

The pink Navi's words were soon cut off for when Maylu spoke to her through her P.E.T. with a nervous, and yet amused, chuckle, "Um, MegaMan isn't a helpless baby, Roll. Besides, he's got Lan with him whenever he's in trouble and he knows that there's no such thing as ghosts."

"I'm afraid that I'm happen to agree with Vector on what he said, Miss Maylu," Miguel heard the voice of Sylphiel saying to the pink-haired girl just as he turned and saw the worry starting to develope on her face. "Someone has to go with Lan and make sure that he gets back home safetly. A boy like him is just too defenseless if any of those ghosts were to attack again."

That was when Miguel started to speak insistently towards everyone else as he went towards the door that Lan went, "Then I'll go with him. Despite those roller blades make him fast to keep up with, I can catch up with the kid. And now that I'm all newly refreshed with energy, I can get pass the security system and head pass the gate before it can have the chance to activate again.

"The rest of you stay here and wait until I see that Lan is back home safely. If any of those pirates dared to show their faces, I'll be sure to give them fight that they would never forget. But I'll only be able to use some ice attacks or small attacks just so I won't be able to hurt the people of the area that might get in the way. Also, I might be able to find either Espio or Charmy around the area. Perhaps they both might have something interesting to tell us."

Just before he could hear anyone give out a protest, Miguel soon heard the voice of Vector saying to him with a voice of confidence in his voice, "Don't you worry about a thing, man. We'll hold down the fort here while you be sure that the kid's okay on his way home and while finding both Espy and Charmy on the way!"

"Heh! Thanks for the support, Vec!" was all the older teen could say just before he turned the knob of the door and began to open it.

Before he could have the chance to open it, Miguel heard the voice of Sylphiel saying to him with a pleading tone in her voice, "Miguel! Wait a moment!"

As he turned towards the shrine maiden's direction, the older teen saw his female friend's lovely face starting to look a bit worried at first. But then it was replaced by a warm gentle smile as she spoke up again, "Please be careful and come back safely."

In response to Sylphiel's words of encouragement, Miguel gave her a warm smile back to her while ignoring all of the mischievous stares and giggling coming from everyone in the group. Even the two adults Higsby and Ms. Mari were becoming interested in what was happening in front of them. Before he could hear anyone make a comment about what just happened in front of them, the teen was soon out the door and headed out of the way in order to find where Lan might've gone.

As soon as she saw him going out through the door, Sylphiel started to become a bit flushed and shocked at what she just felt and what she just told Miguel. She was so deep into her thoughts about the subject that she didn't listen or even notice all of the others starting whisper amongst themselvs about what they've just seen.

_"Now why did I just say that to Miguel while in front of the others?" _the shrine maiden thought to herself while still having a mental picture of Miguel's face in her mind. _"I mean, sure that I've grown accustomed to his company during our times together, but I didn't think that it would become that serious. Well, he does always treated me like a person that could make her own decisions and he's always so understanding for whatever decision that I've made. Perhaps..." _

Just before she could finish her thoughts, Sylphiel soon began to shift back into reality for when she heard the voice of the little girl named Yai saying to her with a rather playfully and mischevous tone in her young voice, "Tee! Hee! Hee! Why, Miss Sylphiel! If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you have some sort of crush on that guy Miguel!"

For when she heard those words, the shrine maiden soon began to blush at what the young blonde girl said. Just as she was about to say somthing about what Yai said to her, Sylphiel heard the voice of the older girl Maylu saying while giggling, "Hee! Hee! Hee! I have to agree Yai, Sylphiel! You do seemed concerned about Miguel just before he went out that door! Otherwise, you wouldn't be blushing at what we just said!"

"Now girls, stop making fun of miss Sylphiel," the shrine maiden heard the voice of the bun-haired woman saying to the young girls while speaking in a gentle and yet stern tone of voice. "I'm sure that it's none of our business for if she has a crush on someone in her life. Let's just stick our noses out of this!"

"Thank you, Ms. Mari," Sylphiel responded to the woman with a polite tone as she tried to get rid of the red shade on her face. "But I'm not really offended by the girls' curiosity. It's just that their talk about my feelings towards Miguel caught me off guard. I really wasn't expecting that kind of talk from the..."

Just before she could finish the rest of her sentence, the shrine maiden heard the voice of Vector saying to Maylu with a sly tone in his voice as she turned to look at what they're going to do. "Well, I might be crazy for saying this, girl, but I think that you might be a bit jealous of her."

"Jealous? Jealous of her how!" the pink-haired girl asked the green crocodile with a furious and serious tone in her voice while Sylphiel saw a bright tone of red appearing all over her face with either anger or embarrassment.

"Whoa! Calm down, Maylu! Vec didn't mean to sound so personal!" Mighty said all of a sudden just as the shrine maiden saw the armadillo going in between them before a fight could ensue. "But I'm afraid that I have to agree with him on this one. I mean, you were a bit angry and well, a bit jealous of how that kid Lan looked at Sylphiel back at the..."

Just before she could hear Mighty say the rest of his sentence, Sylphiel heard the voice of the pink mechanical being known as Roll saying to the Mobian with a rather miffed tone, "Hey! Listen you! Maylu has every reason to be jealous of Sylphiel! I mean, just look at her! Sylphiel has got the most gorgeous face that you've ever seen as well as nice dark hair! She also has a good and nicely portioned body that would make any boy drool over her! She's also nice and very helpful to others! She's...!"

That was when the shrine maiden heard the pink Navi girl's voice being cut off for when the she heard the bulter type computer program named Glyde on Yai's P.E.T. device saying in a polite manner while clearing his throat, "(Ahem!) Roll, I hate to be the one to point this out to you, but I think that you might be a little too...!"

Just before she could hear what the polite Navi was about to say, Sylphiel saw what appears to be a ghostly window appearing right out of the P.E.T. device of Maylu's and the image of the human-like pink girl program was on it. From the way that she saw the look on the Navi's face, she could've sworn that she was looking at the face of her fiery and hot-tempered friend Lina Inverse. Sylphiel also saw that face of Maylu was the same way as her digital friend is towards Yai's own device and gave the gentleman like Navi a death glare that would be enough to send shivers down anyone's spine.

_"The two of them together look like that they could be a match for Miss Lina for when she gets mad," _the shrine maiden thought to herself as she continued to look at the scene with a sweat drop forming behind her head. _"I got to do something to calm them down before..." _

Sylphiel's thoughts were soon cut short for when she heard the voice of the man named Higsby starting to say to everyone while at the same time going towards the door along with Ms. Mari, "As much as I would like to hear this little death match about to unfold, I have to get back to my Chip Shop. I left NumberMan back there in charge of the place with Shuko while I was trying to help with the Halloween Horror Night."

"And I have to get home to expect some calls from the school concerning about what just happened to us today," she heard the bun-haired woman saying while seeing her heading towards the door with Higsby. "I guess that I might even expect to have to cancel the whole thing in order to ensure the safety of the students there."

"Well, just allow me to get Glyde away from both Roll and Maylu so that he could be sure to keep the security system disarmed for you both to leave, Ms. Mari," the shrine maiden heard the voice of Yai saying just as she saw the young girl pulling her own device away from the annoyed Maylu and Roll and pointed it towards the huge control consol of the entire treehouse that they were in. "Glyde, go to the security system's main server and make sure that both Ms. Mari and Higsby get out of the mansion's grounds. Once they're out, arm the security system once more."

"I'll do it at once, Miss Yai," Sylphiel heard the voice of the young girl's Navi as she also heard him being so eager to do so.

_"Probably to just get away from both Miss Maylu and Roll," _the shrine maiden thought to herself as she watched both Ms. Mari and Higsby leaving the tree house as she chuckled softly about the thought before realizing what she was thinking. _"Wh-where are my manners? I was just thinking that poor Mr. Glyde being frightened by both those girls angry expressions on their faces. I guess that some of Miguel's personality as well as some of Vector's are starting to rub off on me." _

With those thoughts done in her mind, Sylphiel began to hear the voice of the boy named Tory saying to her while seeing him coming up towards her, "Excuse me, Miss Sylphiel, but could you tell us more about the magic that you've used on your world? I'm still a bit more curious about it."

"I would like to know as well, Miss," she heard the voice of the big boy named Dex saying to her while at the same time feeling a bit interested in the subject. "So, what kind of magic are you capable of handling other than healing other people with it?"

"Now that I think about it, just how is it that you were able to learn your magic, Miss Sylphiel?" the shrine maiden heard the now calm voice of Maylu asking her with a bit of curiosity in her young voice.

"I would like to know that as well," said the voice of the now calmed down computer program Roll as Sylphiel looked at the both of them and saw the eager look on their faces. "Were you born and raised to be a healer?"

"GutsMan want to know too!" she heard the gruff voice of the one called GutsMan saying with a bit of eagerness in his voice as the shrine maiden saw his image appearing on the same screen as Roll did for when she faced the one called Glyde.

"So do I!" shouted out the voice of the cute Navi that they called IceMan for as he too appeared the same way as his strong-looking friend did through his own P.E.T.

"Why don't you tell us all that story, babe," Sylphiel heard the voice of Vector saying to her as she turned towards his direction saw him sitting in one of the chair and ready to listen to what she has to say. "From when we first met both you and Miguel, you really didn't tell us about where your from and what family you were raised from. So maybe..."

"Vector! You and the others should be more respectful to Sylphiel!" she heard Mighty saying to his friend with a stern tone in his voice as well as the group of eager kids. "For all we know, she could've experienced something terrible during her life before she even met any of us! All of you should be...!"

That was when the shrine maiden cut off the armadillo's words by saying to him in a gentle tone of voice while trying to hide away all of the sadness within her own heart, "It's alright, Mighty. Thanks for your concern, but I think that all of you deserve to know about my life. I mean, if I just keep everything to myself, then I would only become a bitter person. Miguel was the one that taught me that the first time I've met him."

"Whoa! I had no idea that you felt this way about your past, Miss Sylphiel," she heard the voice of Yai saying to her with a sad tone in her voice. "I never should've made fun of you if..."

"No, it's okay, Miss Yai," Sylphiel responded to the young girl as she started to wipe away her own tears filling inside her eye with her hand. "I know that it still hurts me on the inside, but I've learned to forget about the terrible things that happened in my past and moved on. But once in a while I have to tell people all about my past eventually."

"Miss Yai, both Ms. Mari and Mr. Higsby just exited the mansion's grounds without much trouble," the shrine maiden heard Glyde saying to his owner while at the same time feeling like his calm and polite self again. "Now, is there something else that you would be requiring?"

"No, that would be all, Glyde," Yai answered while at the same time speaking in the same polite tone as her Navi while seeing her supposely huge shining forehead beginning to sparkle with light as she smirked. "You just happened to be on time for Miss Sylphiel to tell us the story of her own past."

"You got that right, little girl," the shrine maiden heard Vector speaking to the young blonde girl just as he turned towards her back toward her direction with a friendly smile. "Now, Sylphiel, tell us about your past by telling us where your born. Just stop for if you're feeling that you couldn't take it any more."

As soon as she heard those words come out of the crocodile's mouth, Sylphiel soon stopped her own tears in her eyes and spoke to everyone with a calm tone just as she began her life story, "Well, everyone, it all started like this..."

As he continued to rush all around the neighborhood in order to get to his home, Lan thought about what both Miguel and Sylphiel as well as the two that call themselves Mobians just told them about the Chaos Emeralds as well as the worlds of where they came from.

"Man, can you still believe what those people just told us, MegaMan?" the head-banded netbattler said to his Navi as he continued to keep his full focus on the road. "I mean, we just had one of the most powerful forces in the entire universe and it could become dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands. Not only that, but two of them are really friendly aliens from another world while that pretty girl named Sylphiel is from a world that has people that could use magic. I'm not too sure if I could handle this."

"Well, I'm afraid that we have no choice but to accept what we just heard, Lan," MegaMan answered to his operator with a voice that sounds just as unsure. "I mean, it would explain all of those strange things happening all around this area. I mean, not to mention the fact that the guy Miguel and Sylphiel are able to use abilities that no normal human could do in this world."

"Hey, don't forget about those animal-like aliens with them, MegaMan," Lan responded to his Navi while still keeping his focus on road ahead. "I mean, you've got to admit that they are the strangest thing since the appearances of the Darkloids in the real world. Let's not forget the time for when you went back in time for when the 'net was barely began to thrive. And let us not forget about the appearance of your dark side with new Darkloids as well as Duo and Slur planning to destroy the world."

"Okay! Okay, Lan! I get the point!" the blue Navi responded to his operator with annoyed huff before speaking again. "(Sighs) It looks to me that we seem to attract strange occurrences more than anybody in the entire world has been. Just what else could happen?"

As if it were to answer the blue Navi's question, Lan suddenly heard the voice of the teenaged young man named Miguel shouting out, "Hey, wait up Lan!"

For when the head-banded boy heard those words, he stopped his skating long enough for him to catch a glimpse of the young man that looked as though he'd been on a all day fun run. As he saw him trying to catch his breath, Lan began to ask him in a tone of amazement, "Miguel! Just what are you doing here and how did you just managed to catch up to me while I was probably fast enough to be about five blocks away from Yai's Mansion?"

As soon as he some him catching some of the oxygen into his lungs, the head-banded boy saw the person from another world finally looking at him straight at the face and said to him with a serious tone in his voice, "Lan! Just what the in world are you doing? Do you have any idea just how dangerous going out in the streets alone could be? Did you forget all about those pirate ghosts that just attacked you a while back? For all we know, they could still be out there waiting for you to be all alone so that they could try to get the Chaos Emerald away from you?"

For when he heard those words come out of Miguel's mouth, Lan was stilled shocked in amazement for as he spoke to the young man, "I was the one that asked the question here, pal! Man, you're starting to sound just like my parents! Okay, first of all, how was it even possible for you to be able to reach me while I was on my skates and secondly, who are you to say that I shouldn't be able to go home by myself?"

"Says the same guy who got himself into trouble with four evil organizations more times than anyone could count," he heard the voice of MegaMan saying to him with a smart aleck tone in his voice.

"Quiet, You!" the head-banded boy said to his Navi with a annoyed tone of voice while at the same time keeping his attentions towards Miguel's direction.

"Well for your information, Lan, I just happen to run like this for when I was in my school's track team," the visitor from another world said to him with a calm tone just before it turned serious. "Now, as for the reason for me to be here, don't you know how reckless and dangerous it is to go out on the streets at this time? I mean, what if one of those pirates were to get the jump on you without any of us to kick their butts for you?"

"I could've just contacted Mr. Famous through my P.E.T. and have this entire area surrounded by a Dimensional Area so that me and MegaMan could Cross-Fuse," Lan responded to Miguel while holding up his P.E.T. towards the outer worldly visitor's direction. "The two of us could've taken care of those pirate freaks on our own without your help, thank you very much!"

"Oh, I'm sure that MegaMan would be in a perfect condition to help you achieve Cross-Fusion in order to do so," Miguel responded sarcastically as Lan was still staring at the older teen with a serious glare. "Oh, and they're not ordinary ghosts either, in case you've forgotten. I could also take care of those green ghouls with my own powers of mine as well as with this!"

As soon as those words were spoken, Lan saw Miguel starting to reach onto his back and seemed to grab nothing but thin air. At first he thought that the guy was probably starting to lose it by doing that action. But what both he and his Navi saw next is what really surprised them. What they saw was a huge but decent sized sword from out of the air of his back. The weapon that he saw was almost as large as his body.

The way that the sword was forged, it looked as though it were something from the Middle-Ages. But the shape and design that he saw on it was completely different from any sword that he'd ever saw in any museum that he's ever been. It was shining with a bright silver and golden light on it's surface. On it's long silver blade was a four-pointed red star.

"Just what in the world is that thing, Miguel?" the head-banded boy asked the older teenager while he stared into the sword with a amazed and shocked look on his face.

"Whatever it is, Lan, it's emitting a very large amount of energy like in that Chaos Emearld we've seen before," he heard the voice of MegaMan saying while carrying the same tone as his operator's. "But it seems to be stable enough. Not like the magnetic field that the Chaos Emerald was emitting."

"Just where did you get that sword from anyway, Miguel?" Lan asked the outer world visitor while seeing him putting the sword back in its rightful place on his back and fading out of sight.

"Well honestly, I'm as much in the dark about this sword's origins as much as you two," Miguel answered while looking at Lan's direction with a shrug in his voice as it soften up a bit. "The first time that I've used this weapon was against a sorcerer from Vector and Mighty's world. His name was Ixis Naugus and he was as power hungry as bad guys come."

"I'm guessing that this has something to do with those Chaos Emeralds as well?" Lan asked the older teen while at the same time removing the wheels from the bottom of his shoe.

"Well, yeah. That's one way of putting it," Miguel responded with a soft tone in his voice while at the same time checking to see if anyone was watching them. "At the time, I didn't know how the sword went into my hands to begin with. All that I could gather from that time was that it's called the Star Sword and that it could grant and control the unlimited powers of a Chaos Emeralds. Powers that are enough to conquer the entire world or even a galaxy if he or she wanted."

Those last words were what really got Lan interested the most. "Whoa! Can a sword like that really do all that? There's just no way!" he heard the voice of MegaMan asking the older male teen just as he started to walk towards his home.

"Well, believe it or not, it could also destory an entire planet with the help of a spell of some sorts, MegaMan," Miguel replied as the head-banded boy saw him starting to walk along with him towards his home. "The first time that I've ever had to use something that dangerous was the final fight that I've had with Ixis. He was trying to merge his home dimension, the Zone of Silence, with another world that I've come across in the past with friends similar to both Vector and Mighty. However, they're a bit different from what the Chaotix look like.

"Anyway, Ixis had just absorbed the power of seven of the Chaos Emeralds and has fused himself with a large portal that led towards his home dimension. Just as he was about to pull the planet into his home dimension, I just transformed with the power of the Star Sword and began to battle with Ixis. Just as he was about to finish me off, some ancient text just sort of appeared in front of my eyes and I began to chant them. They were in an entirely different ancient alien language of sorts, but I was able to read it as if it were plain English."

"Now that's something that I've got to tell the guys about," Lan responded to the teen's words while feeling more than eager as to the conclusion of the story. "So anyway, you were able to beat this Ixis Whatus guy with a spell that could destroy the entire planet right?"

"Well, that's right, Lan. I was able to beat him," the older teen answered to him with a sort of distant and even shuddering tone of voice just before he continued. "I was able to use the Desolation Blade spell to destroy Ixis's entire body and wipe him out of existence. But what he said to me right before that really scared me. He said that I've just released something that is far more powerful and dangerous than any God or Monster that's ever been in Sylphiel's world. A nightmare that would bring the entire universe to its knees. That nightmare came in the form of a creature named Nightmare Parasite Chaos."

That was when Lan started to notice Miguel stopping right in front of the neighborhood electronic store with a rather angered and upset expression on his face. The boy also noticed that the older teen used a rather hateful tone in his voice while he spoke that the sentence. Just as he was about to ask him about what was bothering him, Lan saw Miguel starting to suddenly come out of his angered gaze and started to scan the surrounding area frantically. The young Netbattler was a bit confused for when he saw the outer-worldly teen doing that all of a sudden as if he were looking for someone spying on him.

"Miguel? Just what in the world are you doing?" Lan began to ask Miguel just as he tried to understand what just happened. "You looked as if you've saw a ghost or something!"

"L-L-Lan! C-C-Could you please not say or mention g-g-ghosts?" he heard the voice of his little blue Navi saying to him with a quivering tone of voice as Lan lifted up his P.E.T. and saw his friend hiding himself inside of its structure. "You know how m-m-much that I can't stand the s-s-sight or story about those t-t-things!"

Just as he was about to reassuring his Navi about what was going on, the head-banded boy heard the voice of Miguel saying to him while at the same time speaking in his usual friendly tone of voice, "Oh, sorry, Lan. It's just that I thought that I've sensed something from somewhere around here. It just seemed really close and then it was gone."

Lan began to sigh with relief for when he heard those calm words come out of the older teen's mouth. He also heard his blue Navi starting to sigh with relief too for when he heard no more talk about ghosts. That was when the boy began to ask, "Miguel, why did you look so angry all of a sudden and what's with this creature called Nightmare Parasite Chaos anyway?"

Just as he was about to hear the answer to his question, Lan saw the older teen staring at the direction and spoke to him with a rather low and serious tone in his voice, "Nightmare Parasite is a disgusting creature that was made to destroy everything in its path. (Sighs) Look, let's just drop that subject and get to your house as fast as we can, alright?"

Before he could have the chance to ask about how personal the topic was, the boy heard the voice of his Navi saying to him in a serious and gentle tone, "Lan, I think we should just drop it. It must've been pretty personal if he became mad like that. So, talk about something else."

"Alright, MegaMan. I get the hint," Lan said to the blue Navi while at the same time thinking about something else to say to Miguel in order to get his mind off of the topic that he spoke about before. That was when it hit him and he spoke, "So, are you and that girl Sylphiel an item?"

As soon as those words came out of his mouth, the boy saw the older teen starting to stare at him right in the face with a shocked tone just as he said with a rosy blush on his cheeks, "Just what are you talking about, boy? I do not have a crush on Sylphiel! I mean, sure that she's beautiful and she's also the sweetest and most gentlest woman that I've ever met, but...!"

Just before he could hear the final words come out of his mouth, Lan saw the embarrassed expression that now laid across his face. The boy began to snicker a bit for when he saw the look that Miguel made on his face. That was when he heard the older teen began to chuckle a bit for when he just realized what just happened and what Lan tried to do for him. Even MegaMan began to join in as Lan saw the friendly smile starting to develope on his face.

"I set myself up for that one, huh?" he heard Miguel saying to him while feeling happy and more like himself again. "Thanks for doing that to me in order to cheer me up, kid. You're pretty okay to hang around with. No wonder your friends like you so much."

"Well, it's just what I do," the boy responded to the older teen with a smile on his face just as he too began to calm down. "I mean, I'm not the kind of guy that just stands by and watches a person suffer with their own pain."

"Well, Lan is an okay guy to hang around with, Miguel," Lan heard the voice of his blue Navi saying to Miguel while sounding friendly to the visitor from another world. "But when it comes to depending on him to get up on time, saving the last piece of food, or even doing his own homework, he's a bit of a..."

"Okay, MegaMan! You don't have to rub it in you know," the boy said to his Navi friend with an annoyed tone of voice while at the same time lifting the P.E.T. towards his face. "Why do you have to say that to the guy for, MegaMan? I know that I can sometimes stay up too late at night and I'd have trouble waking up in the morning. But that's still no reason to just tell the guy all that!"

"All I'm saying is the truth and nothing more, Lan," MegaMan responded to his operator's words with a bit of a defensive and smart-aleck tone in his voice. "Maybe if you could just get yourself up early more often, then maybe I wouldn't have to...!"

Just before he could hear his Navi getting the chance to finish his sentence, Lan heard the voice of Miguel gasping in a panic as he turned away from his P.E.T. and saw the teen scanning his surroundings all over again. That was when the head-banded netbattler began to become curious as he said, "Now what's going on, Miguel? Don't tell me that you've sensed another ghost?"

"Lan, h-how many times d-do I have to tell you not to mention t-t-those things?" he heard MegaMan shouting out to him in a frightened tone while hearing his Navi beginning to shake with fear about what he just heard.

Just before he could get his little blue friend to calm friend to calm down, Lan heard Miguel beginning to say to him with a somewhat calm and yet unsure tone of voice, "Oh, it's probably nothing, MegaMan. I thought that I've sensed something with a large amount of energy where we are now. But I guess that I might've either imaged it or it could've just went away."

"J-J-Just exactly what did you s-s-sense, Miguel?" the boy heard his Navi asking the older teen with a curious and yet still frightened tone of voice. "Don't t-tell me that it's one of those c-c-creepy pirates that we've just saw at the school before!"

"No, it's not them, MegaMan," Miguel said to the Navi while Lan saw him still scanning the area with a sort of creeped out expression on his face while at the same time on his guard. "It's as if I'm being watched by someone with great power. But it's as if he or she didn't exist in this world, but from an entirely different plane of existence. But I could assure you that it was no ghost."

"Well, if it's not a ghost, then what else could it be?" Lan asked the older teen while wondering about the very thought in his head.

"Well, let's just forget about that for now and just get you safely back home before anything else happens," Miguel responded to the young boy with a rather concerned tone of voice. "Let's just get out of here before anyone around here starts to get too suspicous about why we're here talkin' for too long. Now let's move!"

Lan didn't need to be told twice about where he needed to go. For when he heard those words come out of the older teen's mouth, the boy started to run towards the street where his home awaited which is about a few blocks away.

As soon as he saw both MegaMan's operator and the strange young man running out of the scene, Bass began to ponder about what he just heard a few moments ago.

_"Now this is rather interesting," _the Black Shadow thought to himself as he pondered on the many things that he have heard from the strange human named Miguel told him about these stones called the Chaos Emeralds as well as the weapon called Star Sword which is now in his possession. _"Why would a young and pathetic human like him hold a powerful weapon that could conquer a galaxy and destory an entire planet easily? He shouldn't be allowed to wield a sword of such power! What kind of being would allow a human like him to safe guard it!" _

As he felt his anger engulfing his entire being, Bass felt all of his energy starting to erupt all around the cyber world of the human electronics store that he was in. All of the Navis inside of the cyber space of the store began to panic as they had their own operators logging them out of harm's way. Even the wondering viruses began to tremble with fear as they ran away from the powerful disturbance as quickly as they could. As soon as he was calm and himself again, Bass started to think about his next move before taking any further action.

_"Well, judging from the way that young human Miguel was able to sense my presense, I'd have to stay away from him for a while," _the cloaked-Navi thought to himself as he thought about the way that the human Miguel was able to sense his power and presence. _"I'll just wait for the right moment to strike for when that boy's weaken again. That's the moment for when I'll make my move in the real world. _

_"For when the time comes for MegaMan's human NetOp to call upon a Dimensional Area in order for him and that blue Navi to perform their little Cross-Fusion trick, I'll be able to enter the human world in order to confront that human face-to-face. The human with that Star Sword weapon of his. He'll be so shocked for when he sees me in the real world as well as the power that I've possessed, that he'll have no choice but to give the power that he over to me. Soon no human or Navi would be able to stop me. As for those animal creatures that I've heard that foolish human talking about, I'll choose to spare them since my business is only with the humans. I would be able to conquer this world and this entire universe with an iron fist!" _

Just as he was about to leave the cyber district of the electronics store, Bass felt something that was unlike what he had felt before. The energy that he felt is almost like as if whoever or whatever possessed it doesn't seem to actually exist in this world. But after a few moments passed, the Black Shadow was no longer able to feel the incredible energy that he felt.

_"What is this strange energy that I'm now feeling?" _Bass thought to himself as he started to scan throughout his surroundings in order to find whatever caused the large amount of energy that he felt. _"I know that the boy could've emitted this sort of energy or otherwise I'd know where he is by now. This energy feels like as if a being has just entered this world with powers that could bend the very fabric of space itself. Whatever it is, it's gone now. I've got to find the right opportunity for jump into SciLab's Dimensional Generator in order for me to enter the human world. Until then, Miguel, I'll be waiting to claim that power you have in your body and use it to conquer the world soon." _

With those thoughts done in his mind, the Black Shadow disappeared from sight before any of the Net Saviors' Navis were to arrive in the scene.

As both he and Charmy continued to eating the delicious food that the human woman Mrs. Hikari made for dinner, Espio's tongue was dancing with delight as the curry tingled his taste buds with its flavor. Sure, it was a bit spicy at first, but once he got a better feel of it, the purple chameleon was able to adapt. Despite the spice it had, the meal was just terrific.

_"And it appears that Charmy thinks so too," _Espio thought to himself as he turned to watch his young bee friend continuing to stuff spoonfuls of the food into his mouth. _"Well, as much as I would like to have more of this curry, both me and Charmy have other business to take care of. _

_"I'm sure that Vec and the guys must be someplace that's far away and out of sight from the people of this world. Well, at least that Mrs. Hikari only thinks that we're kids wearing strange costumes. The rest of the people that we've come acrossed in the streets thought so. So, I guess that if we're able to pull it off, I'm sure that the others would be able to do that as well. I guess that in the meantime, I have to finish up this curry and..." _

That was when the purple chameleon could have the chance to finish his thoughts, he heard the youthful voice of Charmy saying to the woman who was with them on the dinner table, "Mrs. Hikari, could I have another bowl of curry please?"

Espio saw the woman giving a beautiful smile towards the young bee as she said to him with a cute soft giggle, "Of course, young man. Boy, you sure do love this curry as much as my son Lan does. I swear, that he eats almost as much as a cow."

Feeling a bit curious as well as interested about what the woman said about her son, the purple chameleon began to ask her, "So about your son, Mrs. Hikari, what is he like other than the fact that he eats too much?"

After hearing another soft giggle coming from her, Mrs. Hikari spoke to Espio as she took the empty plate away from Charmy to give him another portion of curry, "Well, he's a young boy that sort of has a problem trying to wake himself up in the morning and always seemed to be more focused on Netbattling than on his school work. But despite his faults, he's a nice boy to the people around here and always tries to help others in need."

"Well, it sounds like this son of yours is a cool guy to hang around with, Mrs. Hikari," the purple chameleon heard Charmy responding to the woman words with a interested and happy tone in his voice. "I'm sure that your son has lots of friends to play around with."

"You wouldn't believe how many friends that Lan has during one of his little adventures," Mrs. Hikari said to the young small bee as he saw her filling his plate with another batch of the curry that she made. "But, I'm not suppose to talk about it since I made a promise not to since...well, never mind."

Before he could have the chance to ask about what she meant by those words, Espio heard the ringing of a door bell coming from the front door of the house. That was when he decided to just drop the subject and started to walk towards the front door as he spoke, "Don't worry Mrs. Hikari! I'll go and answer the door for you! It's the least that we could do after the meal that you've given us."

"Thank you, Espio. That's very nice of you!" he heard the human woman saying to him with a happy tone in her voice as he saw her pass out a plate full of curry to Charmy.

"You're welcome," was all that the purple chameleon said to Mrs. Hikari politely as he marched himself towards the door and began to thought to himself. _"Well, after what that nice lady did for us by making that dinner for us, it's the least that we could do. Besides, no one in this world so far suspects that both me and Charmy are really visitors from another world. So it wouldn't hurt to try to act as a human boy a bit longer to another person or two before leaving to rejoin the others. It's not as if one of them would appear right in front of the door and yell out 'Surprise!' and ask what both me and Charmy are doing here." _

Just as he finished with those thoughts in his mind, Espio reached for the door knob and began to turn it. For when he pulled and open door, the purple Mobian has his eyes opened wide for when he saw his human friend Miguel at the front door. Along with him was a young human boy with brown hair and eyes. He also had a blue head band that contains a strange symbol containing yellow, black, and red in it. He also wore an orange vest and a pair of tight black shorts.

"M-Miguel! Just what in the world are you doing here?" Espio said to the human teenager as he is still surprised with his friend's sudden appearance with the young boy next to him. "And just who is this kid with you?"

"What do you mean some kid!" he heard the voice of the head-banded boy saying to him with a rather annoyed tone. "For your information, I happen to live here! Now, what I want to know is what are you doing in my home!"

Just before either him or Miguel could have the chance to speak in order to calm him down, Espio heard the voice of Mrs. Hikari saying while feeling a bit happy about who she just heard, "Lan? Is that you? Oh, I'm so glad that you're home! And you've brought some company that recognized our guests!"

"Espio! Just what in the world is going on around here?" he heard the voice of Charmy saying while at the same time starting to see the young bee walking up towards their direction and saw what was going on while having some food in his mouth. "Miguel? (Gulp!) What are you doing here? Just where did Vector and the others went?"

As soon as he heard the those words coming out of Charmy's mouth, Miguel was about to open his mouth to say something for when he heard the voice of Lan's mother, Haruka Hikari, speaking with a polite and overjoyed voice, "Oh, so you must be both Charmy and Espio's friend? Well, I'm so glad to hear that. I could see that you've met my son and I'm grateful that you've brought him home to safety. Are you a part from the group that Miss Mari is gathering in order to prepare for this upcoming Halloween?"

Just before he could allow Lan the chance to speak, the older teen began to say to the woman with a polite tone, "Well, sort of, Mrs. Hikari. I was actually looking for two friends of mine while our group was looking for your son's school. We got separated while looking for it and we got lost. But it seems that you've found both Espio and Charmy for us while we were looking for them. And judging from the way that Charmy has his mouth filled with food, I'd say that they've enjoyed your meal. But I'm afraid that we have to go back with the others before they begin to worry."

"Aw! Do we have to, Miguel?" he heard the voice of the young bee Mobian saying to him while licking the last bit of food in his mouth while speaking again in protest. "I mean, I still haven't finished the delicious curry that Mrs. Hikari made for dinner!"

"You made curry, mom!" he heard the voice of Lan saying to his own mother with both surprise and happiness as he turned to see the head-banded Netbattler drooling over the thought of having his favorite meal.

"Lan, you're starting to drool all over the carpet," he heard the voice of MegaMan shouting out to his operator as he saw Lan snapping himself out of his little day dream. "You didn't even get a bite out of mom's food and you're already starting to drool a river out of your mouth."

Before he could hear the boy respond to his Navi with a comeback of his own, Miguel heard the voice of Espio saying while at the same time seeing the purple chameleon stare at the device that Lan got out from his waist, "Whoa! A little blue boy inside of a hand-held computer that could make smart-aleck remarks! Now that is something within this world that we...!"

Just before he could allow the older Mobian to finish his sentence, the teen began to cover the ninja's mouth as quickly as he could. He then saw the confused and yet surprised expression on Mrs. Hikari's face as well as both Lan and Charmy. As quickly as he could, Miguel began to think of something that might help with the situation. Fortunately, he heard the voice of Lan saying while at the same time trying to avoid what just happened, "I wouldn't worry about what Miguel did in front of us just now, mom!

"It's just that Espio has just never seen a real P.E.T. from the country that he, Miguel, and Charmy just came from. He just gets excited for when he sees new things in front of his eyes, but that's a long story. Miguel, don't you think that it's time for you and the guys to get back to rejoin the rest of the group?"

The teen was a bit surprised at Lan's attempt at avoiding what Espio said just now for when he saw MegaMan in the P.E.T as well as his reaction to it. Just before he could hear the voice of Charmy about to speak about what just happened, Miguel started to pick up the small bee and said to the head-banded netbattler as well as his mother while trying to make himself sound busy, "Oh, yes! Thank you for reminding me, Lan! Well, Mrs. Hikari, it's a pleasure to meet you and I hope that you and your son have a good evening! Come on, Espio, let's roll!"

As soon as the teen saw the chameleon understanding his words with a nod of his face, Miguel started to run out of the sight of both the mother and her son as he saw Espio joining in his run. While continuing to carry the small be in his arm, the teen soon found himself turning towards an abandoned alley. For when he finally arrived there, Miguel put the little bee down on the ground and waited for Espio to catch up to them.

For when he saw the purple chameleon appearing from the entrance of the alley, Miguel started to speak to the two Mobians while using a rather miffed tone, "Just what in the world are you guys doing eating at a woman's house while we're now at a very important mission to find the pieces of the Chaos Emerald?"

As he waited for either of them to answer his question, the teen started to hear the voice of Charmy answering while speaking in an innocent tone of voice, "I was just getting a little hungry for while both me and Espy are trying to continue looking for one of the shards of the emerald that suddenly appeared out of nowhere in a green pillar of light near an alley for when the two of us bumped into each other while going in the same direction where it was. That was at that moment for when we both met Mrs. Hikari."

Before he could ask any further questions about what happened after that, Miguel heard the voice of Espio saying to him in a rather serious voice as he turned and saw the chameleon blushing a bit, "Well, you see, Miguel, Mrs. Hikari thought that we were lost kids in Halloween costumes. She has no idea that we are from another world. In any case, she invited us over to her house and we sort of accepted the invitation. Like Charmy said, we were both hungry."

"Okay, now that answers several of my questions," Miguel said as he looked at the two of them with an annoyed and yet relieved sigh before speaking again. "Now, for the trickest one: did the two of you know where the emerald shard is now?"

That was when Charmy began to answer the teen by saying in a sheepish tone, "Well actually, we don't know, Miguel. For when both me and Espy bumped into one another for when we both saw the pillar of green light at the same time. We didn't see who took the emerald just as pillar of light disappeared."

"Right where we both met Mrs. Hikari, the pillar of light suddenly disappeared right before we could have the chance to investigate," the teen heard Espio adding to the young bee's words with the same sheepish tone in his voice. "I assumed at the time that it was most likely taken by someone from this world. But as Charmy said, we just didn't see who took it or where that person went."

"Sounds the two of you didn't have much luck with finding the emerald shards like we did," Miguel said to the two Mobians as he leaned his back against the wall of the alley. "You see, while the two of you were looking for the emerald shards all around the city, the both me and Sylphiel felt the incredible energies of the Chaos Emerald being emitted from that building that we all just woke up from.

"The two of us were separated from both Vector and Mighty for when we felt those energies coming from the school building. As soon as the two of us found the source of the disturbance, me and Sylphiel found a near-completed emerald in the hands of Lan, the boy that I've come towards the front door with, who was also being accompanied by his friends at the time. They were also being surrounded by a bunch of spirits that are dressed as pirates. They've threatened to take their lives if the emerald wasn't handed over to them. That was when things got a little hairy and we ended up explaining a lot of things as well as get some unwanted attention."

"We know, we both saw it on the local news on T.V.," he heard the purple chameleon saying to him while not feeling too enthusiastic. "Both me and Charmy saw your picture all scrambled up and couldn't be seen clearly. But from what that news lady told us, the city now thinks of you as a sort of terrorist or something and she saids that some people called the Net Saviors would do what they can to have your picture identified."

"Well, thanks for that piece of info that I needed to know," the teen responded to Espio with a sarcastic and non-enthusiastic tone. "I think that it's time for us to re-join the others before someone or something starts to get too curious about what's going on around here. Just hold onto me tight as I use the Chaos Control to get us back with all of the others. It's going to be a bumpy ride, so hang on tight."

As soon as his words reached the two Mobians, Miguel felt their hands going over to his arms just as he began to concentrate on finding Sylphiel's own Chaos Energy. For when he finally found the speck of the shrine maiden's own Chaos power, the teen soon started to brace himself for as he shouted out, "Chaos Control!"

For when he shouted out those words, Miguel soon found himself, along with both Espio and Charmy, in the green tunnel of light that is between both time and space before reaching their final destination.

**End of Part 5**


	6. Chapter 6

**Note to Readers:** I would like to say to everyone that I thank you for all of your support on this story as well as my other stories. It's nice to hear honest and good opinions about them for a change. I would like to thank the group **Generation-A **for their continued support and I hope that their next story would turn out well. Now, as for this next chapter, I tried to put in both Miguel and Sylphiel's relationship into one that almost like that of Lina and Gourry's but less violent. I also try to put in one of my created fan characters into the story as well as Nightmare Parasite and its plans for the Chaos Emerald. I also have an idea that I've been dying to try out since watching the French episode of the new **Sonic X** episodes with the Chaotix. Also if you all think that the chapters are interesting so far, just wait until the former members of World Three show up. Well, enjoy!

**Part 6**

As she was feeling the sadness of her past lingering inside of her heart, Sylphiel became a little better for when she told everyone about it. It's true that talking about one's unhappiness helps especially for when you're in a group of friends. However, she really didn't expect everyone in the room to react so strongly to what she just said to them. Vector and Mighty were trying to their best not to spread their tears out of their eyes. As for the rest of the young kids that were letting out all of their tears as if they were water fountains. Even their mechanical Navis seemed to be touched at what the young woman told them as she saw them starting to cry over what they just heard.

_"I guess that everything I told them was a bit too sad for them to handle,"_ The shrine maiden thought to herself as she continued to watch everyone in the room crying and talking to one another about what they each just heard just as she let out a relieved sigh as well as drying her tears with her own cloth. _"But it's rather strange. I'm now a bit calmer and happier than what I used to be since I've started talking to everyone. I feel like that I could talk to everyone about everything that's been on my mind since before I've first met Miguel and the others. I'm glad that I was able to tell them all this." _

Just as she finished her thoughts, Sylphiel soon turned her full attention towards both Yai and Maylu for when she heard them speaking to her while trying to hold back the sobs in their voices. "We're so sorry for making fun of you from before, Miss Sylphiel!" the blonde little girl spoke as she reach into her pocket and produced two tissues from it as she passed it onto her friend that was crying right beside her. "We had no idea (sob!) that you led a tough (sob!) life! I probably wouldn't handle it if (sob!) both of my parents were killed! I'll never take for (sob!) granted for what (sob!) they did for me ever again!"

"You could (sob!) say that again, girl!" the shrine maiden heard the voice of Vector responding to the little girl's words with the same shameful and sad tone in his voice as she turned and saw him crying while at the same time blowing hard on his nose through his own handkerchief. "I mean, I never really got to know my folks and for years I had to fend for myself! I mean, a fine and gentle babe like you didn't need to go through all of the (sob!) tough things that I had to endure as a young kid!"

"You got that right, Vec!" she heard Mighty saying to his friend while at the same time trying to hold back tears his own tears. "Boy! Everything that she has to go through! The lost of her father while trying to help her friends, seeing her father and everything that she loves come back to life with the help of some cruel Dark Lord! I don't even know if I could handle more of that sad story that she just told us!"

"The worse part of it was that a pretty girl like her doesn't have a mother to be with both her and her dad for while she was growing up!" she heard Dex saying while also hearing him trying to blow his nose on what appears to be a yellow piece of tissue paper. "Why do bad things always have to happen to a beautiful and nice girl like her? Why!"

"GutsMan agree with Dex! Guts!" she heard the voice of the once gruff Navi GutsMan starting to cry along with his human friend.

"Huh? Dex! You're blowing your nose right on the hood of my sweater!" she heard the voice of the boy Tory saying to his huge friend with both a sobbing and yet annoyed tone of voice as she saw Dex blowing his mucus onto the boy's yellow hood.

"Looks like Dex was really touched by the story, Tory," she heard the voice of the little Navi named IceMan saying with a nervous chuckle while still trying to make out the scene.

"Miss Sylphiel, we're both terribly sorry for making fun of you about having a crush on Miguel," she heard Maylu saying to her while at the same time noticing that she's calming herself down from what she just heard from the shrine maiden. "We didn't know that you once fell in love with a handsome swordsman and he fell in love with some other girl. We also didn't know that the hate that you once possessed almost made you into a horrible monster for when you first met Miguel and his other friends. I..."

"There's no need for all of you to apologize for anything, everybody," Sylphiel responded to the red-haired girl and everyone else in the tree house with a polite tone in her voice just as she did her best to wipe away her own tears that were now on her cheeks. "If anything, I should be thanking all of you for listening to everything that I've had for a long time. Except for Miguel as well as the friends back at my own world, you all were the only ones that understood what I've been through."

"Well, I (sobs) didn't want to say anything, but I've nearly lost someone who is very dear to me once," she heard the voice of the pink cyber program Roll saying with the same sadden tone as everyone else as she wiped her own tears from her face. "When MegaMan was deleted, I thought that I would never see him again. I'm so sorry about giving you a hard time by telling everyone about how beautiful you look. I mean..."

"It's alright, Miss Roll," the shrine maiden said to the small little Navi as she finally finished wiping away the tears from her eyes and cheeks and spoke with a polite tone. "Thanks for understanding. I mean, I got to say that I didn't quite expect a computer program like yourself to be able to feel emotions that are close to that of humans."

"Well, to put things quite simply, Miss Sylphiel, Net Navis were originally designed to simulate the emotion each of his or her human NetOp," she heard the polite tone of the gentleman program named Glyde saying to her as she turned and saw his form appearing in a screen that is similiar to the one that Roll used to appear in front of her before. "This sort of thing was established by Lan's father, Dr. Yuuichirou Hikari. He's the leading science at a laboratory within this city called SciLab. It's the main leading source to all of the technology where we Net Navis as well as various other programs were created from. Dr. Hikari is also the son of the original creator of Net Navi technology as well as the entire cyber network, Tadashi Hikari."

"So, what the bulter is tryin' to say is that Lan comes from a family of scientists?" she heard Vector starting to say to the Butler Navi while at the same time sounding more like his usual tough and upbeat self again as he became interested in the subject.

"Well, yeah, that's sort of one way to put it, Vec," she heard the cute voice of the Navi IceMan saying to the green crocodile while at the same time still absorbing the new found knowledge that she gained. "We were all a bit surprised to find out that Lan's own family was responsible for the creation of everything that we know of today."

Just before she could have the chance to say something about what she just learned, Sylphiel felt a sudden jolt of Chaos Energy starting to course throughout her entire body. Before either she or everyone else could have the chance to find out what was going on, the shrine maiden soon found herself being blinded by an eruption of emerald green light. The intense burst of light was so bright that it was hard for her to tell if she was in the same place. As soon as she felt the jolt of Chaos Energy disappearing from within her body, Sylphiel started to blink both of her eyes in order to regain their full focus.

As soon as her eyesight returned to normal, the shrine maiden soon found herself looking around to see if everyone else was okay. As she thought, everyone, both human and Mobian alike, were trying their best to regain their full eyesight. That was when she also noticed someone right in front of her that she hadn't notice up until now. Who she was looking at was none other than her friend Miguel being accompanied by the remaining members of the Chaotix, Espio and Charmy.

Just as she was about to say or even run over to the teenaged male in order to give him a huge hug, Sylphiel heard the voice of the purple chameleon saying while at the same time feeling and breathing as though he had just ran a couple thousand miles, "I'm never...going to get...used to traveling...like that."

"The same...here, Espy!" she heard the bee named Charmy saying to his companion as she saw him doing the same thing. "Traveling like that...makes me...appreciate what we do for...a living."

"Well, I guess that it takes time for some people to get used to the side effects of traveling around through Chaos Control," she heard Miguel saying to the two Mobians with a sheepish tone in his voice.

Just before she could ask either of them if they were okay, Sylphiel heard the voice of Yai saying while feeling a bit surprised about what just happened, "Can't you just warp through the front door like everyone else! I mean, the light through that Chaos Control thing could really cause some people to go blind you know!"

"Oh, and I suppose that big shining forehead of yours isn't hazardous to our sights as well?" the shrine maiden heard the voice of Dex saying to his young little friend with a sort of sarcastic tone in his voice.

"Hey! Watch it, Dex!" she heard Yai responding to her friend's words with an angry and annoyed tone. "I'll have you know that my forehead is a part of my beautiful image and a girl such as myself needs to keep it in check!"

"Okay! Okay, Yai! We get the point! There's no need for you to get mad," Maylu said to her little friend as Sylphiel turned to see the red/pink-haired girl trying her best to get Yai to calm down. "Dex was only kidding. You're forehead doesn't blind everyone as he said. Ha. Ha. Ha."

From the way that she heard the young girl laughing, she could tell that she was nervous from trying to hide the truth from her little blonde friend. Just before she could ask about what Maylu meant about Yai's huge forehead, she heard the voice of Miguel starting to say to everyone while at the same time feeling a bit surprised at what he found, "Uh, I could be missing somethings, but why are you guys having tears on your faces as if you all peeled like about a thousand onions?"

That was when Sylphiel was able to answer by saying to her friend, "Well, I sort of told everyone around here all about my past, Miguel. It sort of hurts a bit, but it made me feel better about it than it did before."

"Well, that would explain why Vector is now a blubbering mess," she heard the voice of the purple chameleon saying with a smart aleck tone.

"Hey! I wasn't cryin'!" she heard Vector saying to his friend while at the same trying to hold back the tears that he had in his eyes. "I was just really touched by what the babe said about her sad past and not having her dad with her any more is all."

"Oh, like we would believe that, Vec," she heard the voice of the small bee Charmy saying to the green crocodile as he flew over towards his direction with a mischievous smile on his face. "From the way that you were crying, I'd say that you're acting like that time for when we saw that romance movie with Cream and her mom."

"Hey, shut up!" Vector responded to his young friend with a annoyed and embarrassed expression on his face as the shrine maiden heard him become more like his usual self again. "It's not like I wasn't the only one that saw it and was crying lakes of tears through the most tragic parts! But now let's get down to business. Where have both you and Espy been while the rest of us were here trying to explain to these kids where we come from?"

Just as she saw the young bee starting to feel a bit sheepish about the answer that he was about to give, Sylphiel heard the voice of Espio starting to saying to his much older friend while at the same time feeling a bit shocked about what he just heard, "Wait! Do you mean to tell us that these little human kids over here know all about us!"

"Well in a nutshell, yes, Espio," the shrine maiden heard Miguel saying to the purple chameleon as he gave out a nervous chuckle before he started speaking again. "These were the people that we were savin' at the time we were all separated. The kid Lan that you just saw back at Mrs. Hikari's house was with them for when they were attacked by those green pirate ghosts that I was talking about. He was also the one responsible for taking the shards of the Chaos Emerald for when we've first arrived into this world."

"Speaking of which, where is it by the way?" she heard the voice of Espio asking with both a worried and curiuos tone in his voice.

Just before anyone could have the chance to answer, Sylphiel spoke up as she held up the large green emerald in her hand, "It's over here, Espio. I've sort of used it to help to warp all of these kids to safety along with two adults. I've also used it to recover Miguel's own physical strength as well as my own."

"So, I guess that this means that both me and Espy would have to introduce ourselves to these kids since we weren't around to help them out at the time," she heard Charmy saying while seeing the young bee coming up towards the group of kids that managed to calm themselves from the story that she just told them. "Hi! My name is Charmy and as you could all guess, I'm a bee! Heh! Heh! Heh!"

Just before she could realize what was happening, Sylphiel saw the young bee starting to get glomped by both Maylu and Yai as they began to snuggle closer to him like a stuffed toy. "Eeeeee! He's just the cutest thing that I've ever seen!" she heard the blonde little girl saying to her friend as he held onto Charmy like he was a cute little doll.

"I agree, Yai!" the red-haired girl replied as the shrine maiden giggled at the sight of the Mobian's cute appearance. "I mean, look at that little pilot outfit! He's just looks so adorable wearing it! I wish that I could take him home with me!"

Sylphiel giggled a bit more at the scene just before she started to hear Vector starting to speak up in order to be heard.

Just as he was feeling a bit annoyed at not getting some of their attention, Vector started to clear his throat loudly just as he began to speak with a polite tone in his voice, "Um, I hate to be the one to break this little snuggling section with Charmy, young ladies, but we have other things to take care of first. Now would you be so kind as to let go of my little home boy?"

"Aw! But Vec, I'm starting to like all of the extra attention that I'm getting!" the green croc heard the small blushing bee whining as he saw both the girl Maylu and Yai reluctantly let go of his small friend.

"I'm afraid that Vector's right about that, Charmy," Espio said to his little friend as he stepped forward and introduced himself. "My name is Espio everyone and as you could see, I'm a chameleon. I'm also trained in the ninja arts in order to blend with my surroundings."

"So you're a chameleon?" said the huge boy named Dex as he walked over to the purple lizard and looked at him very closely with curiosity before speaking again. "To be honest, I thought that you were some kind of purple rhino with a golden horn on his forehead."

"Hey! I'd watch what you say about me, sumo boy!" the purple chameleon said to the strange-haired boy just as he saw him starting to charge towards his direction like a mad bull.

"Don't make fun of my weight, you little purple...!" that was all the kid could say before Espio started to use his invisbility ability to cloak himself with his surroundings.

Just before he could see the large kid about to hit his mark, Mighty saw Espio vanishing out of sight and watched as the huge kid named Dex fell to the ground while hitting nothing but air. As soon as he saw the huge kid trying to get himself off of the floor, the armadillo quickly turned his attention back towards the group of kids and said in a polite tone, "That's just Espio's own special ability, everyone. He could literally blend in with his surroundings, making him invisible. Charmy could fly at high speeds as well as shrink and grow in size."

"Well, whatever it is, I don't like it!" Dex said just as he was rubbing the top of his head in order to calm it.

"Okay, but what about both you and Vector, Mighty?" Tory asked the armadillo with a curious tone in his voice. "What kind of abilities do the both of you have?"

That was when Vector started to answer for his friend by saying to the human boy with a proud tone in his voice, "Well, little man. Mighty here has super strength and can lift up to over 800 lbs of weight. As for yours truly, I could swim to far distants whether it be a river or ocean and could last for a very long time. I also have incredible strength too. It's not as good as Might's, but I'm strong enough to lift an entire refrigerator."

As soon as he was finished, Vector soon found himself turning his full attention towards Miguel just as he heard the human saying to them, "Alright, now that the late introductions as well as the late info is done, I'd say that we get back to other important matters. Like with finding out where that final piece of the Chaos Emerald could be. Now, does anyone have any ideas of how we should start looking?"

When those words were spoken from the teenaged human's mouth, the green crocodile heard the voice of Espio saying with his usual serious tone, "Well, I think that the best thing for us to do at this point is to just lay low and try to keep the people around here from noticing or getting too curious about us. From the way that both me and Charmy saw from the local news, I'd say that's the best option."

"Just how is it that you and Charmy were able to see the news, Espio?" the young girl named Maylu asked just as everyone turned their full attention towards her direction.

Just before either Espio or Charmy could have the chance to answer the red-haired girl's question, Miguel suddenly spoke up as he said, "Well, as it so happens that I've managed to find the two at Lan's home eating dinner with his mother while I was making sure that he got there safely and in one piece."

"Say what!" Vector shouted with a surprised and angry tone as he turned his full attention toward the purple chameleon with an expression that matched his voice. "Just how was it that both of you get the chance to pig out on someone else's meal while the rest of us are here trying to...!"

Just before the green crocodile could have the chance to finish the rest of his angry sentence, the human shrine maiden began to cut in by saying with a polite and gentle tone while feeling a bit nervous about the tension that's developing, "Well, I could probably make all of us some dinner if all of you want. I'm sure that no here has probably eaten since our encounter with those so-called pirates ghosts."

"Well, as much as we like to see how good a cook that Miss Sylphiel is, I have to get back home," the girl named Maylu saying while seeing her going towards the door along with her friends. "I have to get home before my parents start to worry."

"I have to agree with Maylu with that one," the Chaotix heard the voice of the cyber being known as Roll adding to her operator's words. "It's almost going to be 6:20 p.m. and her parents are going to be worried sick if they found out that she's somewhere else."

"I actually have to get going too," Dex said just he looked at the strange group of friends from another world. "As cool as it is seeing aliens from another world, I have to get back at the #1 Curry. I was preparing a special type of curry for the Halloween Horror Night coming up at the school. But since all of the crazieness with all of those green pirate ghosts, I have to get going back in order to prepare for tomorrow's special. I also have to take care of my little brother since he's at home all by himself waiting for me to return."

"I should get going as well," Tory said to everyone as he was squeeze all of the tears out of the hood of his yellow sweater. "I've got to get home and get my sweater washed since Dex was the one that soaked it. I also have to get back to my parents so that they wouldn't start to worry."

"Well, the six of you could just hang out around here and lay low until tomorrow," they heard the voice of the blonde little girl saying to them while her forehead shined with a sparkling light. "I mean, it's not everyday that we get visitors from another planet. Besides, I'm sure that all of you need a place to hang out until you find the final piece of that Chaos Emerald of yours. I'm here at my family's mansion all summer and I'll be sure that you guys won't be disturbed or discovered while you're here in this tree house. Me and Glyde would make sure of that."

"It would be my pleasure, Miss Yai," the butler type Navi program said to his operator as his image appeared in the holographic screen and bowed himself towards the Chaotix as well as their two human friends. "There's plenty of food around the refrigerator if you're all hungry and the kitchen is still fully active. There's also a television set to watch something if you're bored as well as a terminal in case that you want to look up information on the Net. It also works as a gaming station as well in case you all want to play some online games. Now, would there be anything else that you need to know?"

As soon as those words were spoken, the four Mobians heard Miguel starting to say to the gentleman butler program with a polite tone in his voice, "No, I think that we're going to be just fine here thank you very much, Glyde. I'm sure that Sylphiel would be able to make something in the kitchen for us to eat. But thanks for the info."

With those words said by their human friend, the four Mobians saw the screen containing the image of Glyde giving them a polite bow before disappearing back into Yai's own device and saw the rich little girl and Maylu giving a wink of their eyes to Charmy before leaving.

"Well, I hope that you all enjoy your stay," the Chaotix heard the older girl named Maylu saying to all of them just as they saw her and her friends leaving out of the door before starting to exit the room and left the six of them alone in the huge apartment-like tree house. "See you all tomorrow! You too, Charmy!"

As soon as he saw the kids leaving the tree house, Miguel looked around and saw that it was just like what he saw in the anime. _"Only this time I'm now living the experience along with four Mobians and a beautiful shrine maiden," _he thought to himself as he continued to look around the place with an amazed expression on his face. _"This place has enough gear that would make Tails to look and study it for months. But I bet that he could do in less than three weeks. I wouldn't mind staying in this world a bit longer seeing that time in my world is much slower for when outside it." _

While the teen continued to look around the tree house, he heard the voice of Vector starting to say to everyone with a cheerful voice as he saw the green croc looking at his surroundings, "Man, would all you guys check out these digs. I mean, there's enough techno gear in this place that would make Tails want to make something with it!"

"You got that right, Vec," Miguel heard the voice of Mighty saying to his older friend as he turned to see the armadillo looking at the advanced mechanical terminal right in front of him. "I mean, it's almost as if Eggman's very own technology runs the place."

"Let's not forget that this place isn't our world and that Eggman isn't here," Espio responded to his friend as he too took an interest in the building that they were in. "From the way that this place has been developed, I would say that this is a futuristic version of Miguel's world."

"Well, whatever this place is, I like it," Miguel heard the voice of the young bee Charmy saying to his friends while at the same time seeing the him still blushing from what he saw the Mobian going through.

"Are you sure that it's not because of those hugs that you've recieved from both of those girls, Charms?" the teen heard Mighty saying to his little friend with a mischevous tone of his voice while also hearing some chuckling coming from him as well.

"Well, Charmy does seem to be blushing at the thought about being held by both Yai and Maylu," he heard the voice of Sylphiel saying to them while turning to see the shrine maiden giving out a very friendly a playful smile on her face as he also heard her giving out a cute giggle. "I bet that it must be some experience that you've went through in order for you to be blushing like that. Hee! Hee! Hee!"

"Okay! That's enough of that, you guys. Right now, we've got some other things to be more concerned about," Miguel heard the voice of Vector saying to everyone in the room while at the same time grabbing everyone's attentions towards his direction and saw him with a serious expression on his face. "First, we've got to get food into some of us first and Sylphiel is the best choice to do the cooking. Of course, since I'm a gentlemen, I would like to ask her if she would..."

Before he could hear the rest of the crocodile's polite request coming from his huge mouth, the human teen saw the shrine maiden raising her hand towards his direction as she spoke politely to him, "That won't be necessary, Vector. I'll be more than happy to make us all some dinner. It's one of my many joys."

"Well, when you put it that way, Sylphiel, I'll be glad to help you with the cooking," Miguel suddenly responded to the beautiful female with a friendly and blushing smile on his face. "I'll need to learn how to cook and you need to know how to operate the stove."

"It's alright, Miguel. I know how to operate the gas stove," Sylphiel responded to him as she started to remove both of her violet gloves and started to search through the refrigerator's contents for the ingredients that she needs for what she was about to create. "I've learned how to do it since the first time I've arrived in your world while you were unconscious. Seeing some of the ingredients similair to my world, I was able to make a perfectly good meal for you and the others without having any problems. Of course, Tails was able to help me with some of it along the way."

"Oh, and we didn't know about this 'til today?" he heard Vector saying with a light and yet mischevous tone in his voice just as the teen turned to see the green Mobian giving him a smile and wink of his eye. "Well, I hope that the two of you would have as much fun as Charmy did with those young ladies."

"Hey!" Miguel heard the young bee responding with a shocked and somewhat annoyed tone of voice while at the same time seeing the young Mobian turning towards his older friend's direction. "Well, at least I'm the only one us that was able to get a girl or two to like and adore me unlike you Vector!"

"What does that suppose to mean!" he heard the green crocodile shouting out loud while at the same time seeing both Espio and Mighty starting to go in between before the fighting could start.

As he continue to hear the Chaotix try to settle their own difference, Miguel turned his attention towards Sylphiel for who he saw already gathering the items that she needed in order to make a meal. As he walked towards the shrine maiden's direction, he saw that she knew how to operate the advanced tree house's stove as if it were like the one from his own home world. While seeing her getting the controls down and memorized, the teen started to stare down at all the different kinds of spices, vegetables, and meats that were laid out.

_"Man, despite what world she's in, Sylphiel still manages to make a good home cooked meal with whatever she has around the kitchen," _Miguel thought to himself as he looked at the shrine maiden with a nervous grin crawling all over his face as he saw her going through all of the ingredients that she gathered. _"Whenever I tried to get near the stove and cooks something, it always ends up burned and black like charcoal. How am I going to help her for when...?" _

The teen's thoughts were soon cut short for when he saw Sylphiel's face staring right at him with a curious and yet, concerned tone for when she said to him while using a polite tone, "Uh, Miguel? Are you alright? You seemed to be nervous about something."

As soon as those words were spoke through the shrine maiden's mouth, Miguel started to panic just as he spoke to her with a somewhat confused tone in his voice, "What? Oh, it's nothing Sylphiel. It's just that I've never learned how to cook food properly or make a meal before. In fact, once I tried to make cooked rice and I ended up burning it down to charcoal."

"Now, don't you worry about having to cook, Miguel," he heard Sylphiel responding to him with a gentle and friendly tone in her voice just as he saw her walking up towards his direction. "All you're going to do is to just help me to peel and cut some of the vegetables while I get the meat ready to cook. Once you're done peeling some of them, you could just wash them down with water in the sink."

"Oh! Uh, sure thing, Sylphiel," the teen said to his female friend while feeling uncertain about what to do but finally got to what she was talking about.

As he turned his full attention towards the numerous amounts of vegetables and stared at the peeler that was along with them. As he picked the peeling tool up, Miguel began to peel a bit of the potato's skin off carefully. He once did this sort of thing with his own mother back in his world. That was when he soon started to take the first potato that he saw and began to peel the brown skin away from its surface. But just before he started peeling, the teen noticed the Chaotix starting to move away from their sight.

As soon as Vector was calm enough to be able to talk peacefully, both Espio and Mighty let go of the huge crocodile's arms and began to sigh with relief. Just then, Vector started to speak to his friends with a low tone as he tried to get them away from both Miguel and Sylphiel sights, "Alright guys, did you all noticed some things about both Miguel and Sylphiel are feelin' more about each other than either of them let on?"

"Well, yeah. It's sort of hard to miss that for when you consider both of them blushing at the sight of each others faces," Mighty said to the leader of the Chaotix with a smart and yet mutual tone just as he turned toward both humans and saw them working on making dinner. "Not to mention the fact that Miguel decided to suddenly help Sylphiel with the cooking while blushing. I mean, talk about innocent crushes."

"Could we just lay off those two and focus on more important things?" Espio said to his two friends with an impatient and annoyed tone of voice. "What about the last piece of the Chaos Emerald that's still out there? For all we know, it could be in the hands of some lunatic trying to take over the world!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa, Espio! Take it easy!" Charmy said to the purple chameleon as he flew right in front of his friends face. "Now, we're just as concerned with finding the last piece of the Chaos Emerald as you are. It's just that, we're trying our best to do so without having to interfere with this world's natural balance."

"Well, besides that, we have no leads to begin with," the green crocodile said to the entire gang as he tried his best to keep his voice as low as it could. "Otherwise, we would've found some power-crazed human trying to destory this entire city by now. Or even worse, maybe one of those green pirates would start to surround the city and we'd be able to see it all around the local news."

"Well, you've got a good point there, Vec," the young bee said to his older friend as he tried to sound serious around the situation. "I mean, both me and Espy haven't got any luck of finding it just before bumping into each other and meeting Mrs. Hikari. The only people that have a better chance of finding the last piece of the Chaos Emerald are both Miguel and Sylphiel. But they don't seem to sense any traces of its energy."

"Well, we have a near-completed Chaos Emerald that we took from Lan," Espio said to his friends as he tried to sound serious and calm to his friends. "Right now, Sylphiel has it with her and judging from the way that she was able to handle its intense energies, I'd say that it's in safe and trustful hands."

"Well, that's all well and good, Espy, but we still have our worries set on the shard that's still missing," Vector said to the purple chameleon as he turned his full attention towards the two humans before turning his face back towards his friends. "Why don't we just have one of them to do that Chaos Control thing that they could do in order to find it? I mean, remember the first time that we first got into Miguel's world and were told about how it could also be used to track down other Chaos Emeralds?"

"How could we forget about something like that, Vec?" asked the black and orange armadillo as he started to go off towards the couch and started sit on it. "And if you're thinking about askin' either Miguel or Sylphiel to perform that warping trick of theirs, then forget about it. Don't tell me that you already forgot about what we just saw on T.V., Vec."

"I'm with Might on this one, Vector," Espio added as he too sat down along with Mighty on the soft comfortable couch while trying to relax at the same time. "I mean, from the way that both me and Charmy saw Miguel's scrabbled image on T.V., I'd say that it's definitely not an option. I mean, for all we know, it could've ended up in some highly advanced and respected organization. The last thing we need is more unwanted attention as well as bad presss from the people of this world."

"Well, I guess that we have no other choice but to just lay low here until some clues about the last shard show up," Vector said to his friends just as he turned his attention both Miguel and Sylphiel helping to make dinner while giving out a smirk across his face. "In the meantime, I think that it's time for us to start playin' matchmaker with those two. I mean, it's pretty obvious that Miguel and Sylphiel have the hots for one another. They're just too shy and afraid to admit it.

"Just like those two young kids, Lan and Maylu. I mean, did you see how jealous she was of Sylphiel for when she caught her boyfriend looking at her? And did you also notice how that pink computer Navi Roll has been talking about the little blue boy, MegaMan? She sure has the hots for that little blue computer byte of a program. Now, that's what I call sweet and innocent romance."

"Oh, like you're an expert on that sort of thing, Vec," Espio said with a smart aleck tone as he gave out a small grin across his face. "I mean, as I seem to recall, you once tried to hook up Tails and that plant girl Cosmo together a while back for when we were in the battle with the Metarex."

"I have to agree with Espy on that one, Vec," Charmy said to the green crocodile as the young bee began to chuckle at his purple friend's comment. "As I seem to remember, we almost got our butts kicked by Knuckles for when he drawed on his face while he was knocked out. Let's not forget the time for when the four of us tried to cheer up the little fox by hooking him up with Cream on a..."

"Alright! Alright, Charms! I get the point! Sheesh!" Vector said to his young friend just as he covered his mouth shut with his own hand with a light blush on his face. "But this time, we're with two mature teens along with two kids nearly in their teens. Let's not forget that two artifical computer programs that are similar to humans are in the same situation. So it's up to us to be sure that these three couples have a happy ending."

"Oh brother, Vector. What did you have planned this time?" Mighty said to his friend while at the same time letting out a annoyed and defeated sigh from his mouth as he tried to listen to what the green croc has in mind.

"Well, if you all really want to know, I'm planning to..." that was all that the green crocodile said to the before his words were cut short by the voice of Miguel shouting out to all of them.

"Hey guys! Do you all want Sylphiel to make us all some baked ham for dinner along with mashed potatos?" they heard the young human saying to them while at the same time smelling meat being cooked over the stove. "She just started getting the ham out of the frig but she also wanted to see if you guys would want it along with the mashed potatos and vegetables."

"Well, both me and Espio just ate at Lan's house for when Mrs. Hikari gave us some of her delicious curry," Charmy answered to the human boy as he spoke with a polite tone in his voice. "But you could ask both Vector and Mighty to see what they would want on their plates."

As soon as those words were spoken, the green crocodile soon responded to Miguel's words by saying, "Well, thanks for allowing us to do so, Charms. Now, as for your question, Miguel, yes both Might and I would like nothin' more than to try that delicious meal that Sylphiel is preparing."

"Well, that's good to hear, Vector," the Chaotix heard the voice of the shrine maiden saying to them while using a polite and happy tone in her voice while seeing her cooking the meat on the stove of the kitchen. "Miguel's just finishing peeling some of the vegetables for everything that I need for the spices. It might take a half hour more or so to get it done, so just try to enjoy yourselves for a bit."

"Well, how about we just try out those games that Glyde just suggested, guys?" Charmy started to say to his group of friends while going over the huge advanced terminal. "I mean, the T.V. is most likely going to have that story about those strange interferences that was caused by the Chaos Emerald."

"Well, I have to agree with you on that, Charmy," Mighty said to the little bee with a chuckle as he joined Charmy at the control panel and looked at it. "Uh, do any of you guys know how to work this thing? I've never used something as advanced as this before."

As soon as he finished four or five bowls of his meal and politely thanked his mother for making it, Lan soon started to march up towards his room and laid his back on the soft matress of his bed. The boy then began to pat his now full and satisfied stomach with his hand just as he heard his Navi speaking to him with a surprised and shocked tone through his P.E.T. that's on his desk, "Well, I got to say this, Lan. This is about the first time that I've seen you eat only five bowls full since the time that you've gotten a stomach virus from eating bad pizza at the school cafetira."

"MegaMan, now's not the time to start with those jokes," Lan responded to his little blue Navi with a serious and yet annoyed tone of voice. "I mean, after what you've just saw with both Espio and Charmy eating dinner with my mom! That was one of the most weirdest experiences that I've ever had to see. I mean, the way that mom talks about those two it's as if she wants them to be apart of our family. Not to mention the fact that she still has no idea that the both of them are aliens from another world."

**Flashback **

"Well, I have to say that both Espio and Charmy are the most polite kids that I've ever seen," Lan's mother said to him and MegaMan as the boy tried to continued to eat his bowl of curry while trying not to be annoyed. "I mean, they're also really adorable for when they're in those costumes of theirs for Halloween. What I really want to know is how were they able to make costumes so real and life-like? They're both very impressive and the way that Charmy was able to move his wings about like that, I mean..."

**End of Flashback**

"Well, I guess that both Charmy and Espio were really trying to be careful about revealing who they really are," MegaMan said to his operator as he tried his best to calm his friend down. "I mean, by the way that mom always talked about them, I guess she's still in the dark about it. But I have to agree with her for when she says that they both have better matters than you do for when you eat at the dinner table."

"Well, that's beside the point, MegaMan!" Lan said to his little blue Navi friend as he spoke again with an annoyed tone. "I mean, today right now is just not our day! First we find a strange emerald that appeared out of nowhere along with strange people from another world.

"Then these pirates start to threatened Maylu's life in order to get me to hand over the Chaos Emerald over to them just before Miguel appeared and starting to wipe the floor with them. Not only that, for when we're trying to get home, Miguel managed to catch up with us at at great speed and showed us his most powerful weapon. We then found ourselves having to try to cheer the guy up after he mentioned the words Nightmare Parasite to us and nearly got angry. But to top it off, as soon as we've arrived home, we found both Espio and Charmy eating with mom."

"Well look at it this way, Lan, at least mom didn't know that those two come from another world and are a different species or that your life was once in danger. Otherwise she would just faint," MegaMan said to his NetOp while using a reassuring tone in his voice. "And you got to admit, that those two do have a lot more table manners at the dinner table than you do for when you eat about ten bowls."

"MegaMan, now is not the time for you to start acting like a smart aleck," the head-banded boy said to his Navi while at the same time feeling a bit annoyed with his remark. "It's not like that you weren't there with me and acted brave for when those green ghost pirates appeared before us. But I wonder what we're going to do now? I mean, it's not like that those guys could just go back to their own worlds without that last piece of that Chaos Emerald of theirs. Not to mention the fact that it could easily fall into the wrong hands by now."

"Well, I have to agree with you on that, Lan," said the blue Navi as he sounded as serious as his NetOp. "I mean, you heard what Miguel said about those Chaos Emeralds pulsing with that type of energy. Giving a person or possibly a Navi nearly limitless power is probably what scares us the most. Image if Bass were to get his hands on that kind of power."

As soon as he heard those words from MegaMan, Lan began to have a thought about their former Navi rival and enemy with the power of the Chaos Emerald within his grasps. The boy then began to shake it off of his mind as he spoke to his Navi, "Well, that would be one sight that we both could do nothing about if Bass were to get his hands on that emerald's power. In any case, let's try not to think about it and just get some rest. We both could use it after what we've been through today."

"For once, you won't hear any arguement from me, Lan," he heard MegaMan saying to him just as he let out a sigh of relief and relaxation just as he let out a frightened shudder. "I mean, those green pirates still give me the creeps just thinking about them."

"Ha! Ha! Ha! But you should know better than to think that those things that we saw were actually ghosts," the head-banded boy said to his Navi with a friendly laugh just as he looked at his computer and saw MegaMan beginning to sulk and pout like a child.

"I was not assuming that those things are ghosts, Lan!" he heard the blue Navi said to his NetOp with a childish tone in his voice just as he sat on the edge of the screen. "It's just that they way that those things look and sound just...!"

Just before he could hear MegaMan finish the rest of his sentence, Lan heard the beeping of his P.E.T. grabbing his attention as he just as he told his friend, "Let's have a talk about those ghosts later, MegaMan. Someone just send us some mail."

"(Sighs) Fine, Lan. I'll check to see who's it from," he heard his blue Navi saying to him just as he waited a moment before his friend spoke to him again. "Lan, it's from Yai. Glyde just told me that she said that there are some people that wanted to speak to us through a communication link. Well, let's just patch it through your computer and see who's calling."

"Okay, MegaMan. Go for it," Lan said to the Blue Bomber while at the same time pointing his P.E.T. towards his home computer's sensor. "Jack in, MegaMan! Power up!"

As soon as the beam of red light from boy's Personal Terminal and deposited his Navi into his computer, the full image of MegaMan began to appear on the huge screen of the computer. "Okay Lan, I've acessed the e-mail and started to put up the com link through the computer's own communication system," he heard the blue Navi saying to him while showing a huge computer window right next to his left side. "The person who wants to speak to us should be able to communicate with us shortly."

Just before the head-banded boy could have the chance to properly thanks his friend, he was suddenly startled for when the voice of the green crocodile began to shout out to him with a cheerful tone of his voice, "Yo! Yo! Yo boy! How's it goin'? I hope that you like the food that your mother has made for ya 'cause the food that Sylphiel has been cookin' for us just kicks some major tail!"

As soon as he was able to regain his usual composure from the fright that he recieved, Lan was able to speak to the green alien from another world with a surprised and shocked tone in his voice, "V-V-Vector? Just how is it that you were able to patch a communication's link to my house! For that matter, how was it that you were able get the equipment to even do it! Just where in the world are you guys anyway?"

"Well to answer your question, Lan, we're at the tree house," the boy heard the voice of the black and orange armadillo Mighty saying to him while at the same time letting out a sigh of embarrassment through his voice. "Your friend Yai was nice enough to let us stay here for a while as we search for the last piece. Her Navi Glyde was very helpful with instructing us on how to work this huge terminal at the tree house as well as with both Miguel and Sylphiel. It's a good thing too 'cause Vec was about to lose his cool and start pounding the thing into scrap."

"I was not, Might!" Lan heard the voice of the green crocodile saying to his friend with an annoyed tone of voice just before the boy saw Espio's face appearing right near his friends.

"Hey there, kid, it's nice to see ya again," the purple lizard said to him while giving him a friendly smirk on his face. "By the way, tell your mom that her curry was delicious and we thank her for the dinner that she made for Charmy and I."

"Well, that was nice of them to give your mom a compliment despite being from a different race. Don't you think so, Lan?" he heard MegaMan saying to him with a upbeat tone just as the boy was finally able to speak to them.

"That's sort of good to hear from you guys. I think," Lan responded to the three beings that called themselves the Chaotix with a nervous chuckle just before he noticed that no one else was with them near the terminal that they've used to communicate with him through his computer or P.E.T. "Hey, where's Charmy, Miguel, and Sylphiel?"

"I'm right here, Lan!" he heard the young voice of their bee friend responding to his words just as the head-banded Netbattler saw the fourth and youngest member of their group appearing right next to his friends. "And if you're wondering if where both Miguel and Sylphiel are, they're both at the kitchen washing the dishes and putting everything back in its place after our dinner. Boy, I got to tell you, Sylphiel's cooking is almost as good as your mom's, Lan. Maybe we should introduce those two and then..."

As flattered as he was with Sylphiel being as great a cook as his own mother, Lan had other things to worry about. That was when he started to speak to the four members of the Chaotix with a serious tone in his voice, "Talk about my mom's cooking later, Charmy. Right now, there are other things that have me worried. Like how long are you guys planning to stay in this world for? As a matter of fact, is there a way for all of you guys to get back to your worlds once you find the final piece of this Chaos Emerald?"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, little home boy," Lan heard Vector responding to him with calm tone of his voice as if the question didn't bother him at all. "A while back for when the four of us were in Miguel's world, he was able to use that weapon called the Star Sword to create a portal that leads straight to our world."

"Well Vector, we sort of figured that out for when Miguel showed the sword to both Lan and I while escorting us back home," the boy heard his Navi saying to the four aliens from another world while trying not to act so surprised. "Of course, he didn't tell us that the Star Sword has the ability to allow him to rip and create portals to other worlds."

"As for how long we might be in this world for, kid, it's kinda hard to say," Mighty spoke with a worried and yet calm tone in his polite voice. "Miguel could stay outside of his world for as long as he likes since time flows very slowly for when he's outside of it. We're not really sure about Sylphiel, though she doesn't seem to mind staying in this world a bit longer. As for the rest of us, I think that our situation is just the same as Miguel's only our friends would surely take notice soon. So in the meantime, I guess we're here to stay for a while."

As soon as he heard those words come out of the crocodile's mouth, Lan began to have a faint idea about what the day holds in store for him and his friends tomorrow. Whatever it was, he could tell that it was going to be a bit crazy as well as a bit chaotic.

Just before he could have the chance to say anything, the head-banded boy began to hear Vector saying to him with a mischevous grin on his face, "Hey, homeboy what do you think of the cute red head Maylu? I think that she digs you really bad."

"Well, for once I have to agree with Vec on this one!" heard the voice of the young bee Charmy saying while at the same time appearing right next to his older friend.

"So tell us, do you have a crush on this girl or what, kid?" he heard the voice of the purple chameleon Espio saying with a calm and yet amused tone while at the same time seeing him appearing right next to his friends. "Come on, you could tell us!"

"W-W-What! What are you guys talking about!" Lan responded to the the crocodile with a red tone appearing on his face. "Maylu and I are just childhood friends! Sure, she wraps her arms around me for whenever we..."

That was when his words were soon cut short for when he heard the words of Mighty starting to calmly say to him while appearing on the screen, "What was that, Lan? I'm not sure that we all heard that clearly. Oh, and what about the relationship that you Navi friend MegaMan has with that pink one named Bun or something."

"For your information, her name is Roll!" he heard MegaMan saying to the armadillo with the same embarrassed tone as he was using. "I mean, even if I were attracted to her, I don't that Lan would feel the same for Maylu if he and she started to go out on a date and...!"

"Okay! I think that's enough for tonight!" Lan said to everyone while cutting off the words of his Navi and placing his index finger on the button in order to get ready to shut off the communication link between the Chaotix's location and his home. "I would suggest that you guys get some rest in order get ready to look for the last piece of that emerald of yours tomorrow! Good night!"

As soon as he cut off his comminucation with the aliens, Lan started to sigh in relief, confusion, and annoyance for when he said to his Navi friend, "Man! Now what was that all about! When did those nosy aliens started to butt into my own personal life like that, MegaMan!"

"Hey, I'm just as confused and annoyed about this as you are, Lan!" he heard MegaMan saying to him with the same annoyed and confused tone in his voice. "I mean, who are they for when it comes to our personal relationships with both Roll and Maylu!"

"You could say that again, MegaMan," Lan said to his friend while starting to calm himself down as he started to lie back down on his bed while still trying to calm the red blush on his face. "Man, how could things like this get any weirder or worse?"

While inside of an old abandoned building in the world that they're in, Dilgear was still trying to sense the powerful energies of the Chaos Emerald's location even in this time at night. The place that he and his group of spiritaul pirates looked as though it were a type of laboratory. Almost like the one that he saw once in his former master, Rezo the Red Priest, had once. Except the laboratory that he and his ghostly minions saw was a bit more advanced from the one that he saw in his former master's own place of conducting his own experiments. But despite the advanced machinery he saw, the part werewolf and troll started to notice how old and ruined it all was. Almost as if it were torn from a great explosion of some kind.

In any case, Dilgear was able to find a strong force of Chaos Energy being emitted a while back from the west side of the city named Dentech City. He was also able to sense a strong but weak presence in the city that he and his minions were in. However, just before he could have the chance to even give the spirits the orders to find and locate the emerald shards, the werewolf suddenly loss the presences of the two power sources. Even with his advanced and improved senses, Dilgear was still unable to sense any of the remaining shards of the Chaos Emerald anywhere. Almost as if someone or something was blocking his extra sensitive senses.

_"No, this can't be. I thought that I should be able to sense where the emeralds are!" _the werewolf thought to himself as he continued to sniff around the air around the old runned down base. _"I was able to even sense those two humans' own Chaos Energy for when those stupid ghosts attacked that from inside that building from before seeing them being wiped out by that boy! At that time, I could also sense the incredible power of the Chaos Emerald emitting its power all over the place. Now, it's just plain invisible to me! Just what is going on?" _

"Master Dilgear! We still weren't able to find the remaining shards of the emerald that you told us to look for!" he heard one of the pirates saying to him while the werewolf saw his deformed and ugly face appearing before his sights. "Arr! We've sent all of our groups on patrol throughout the entire city and found no traces of the Chaos Emerald or its shards anywhere. Shiver me timbers! It's as if someone or something has been preventing our men from looking for it."

"I know that you fool! I've tried to find the source of the problem but couldn't find a trace of it,"Dilgear said to the green ghostly pirate with a snarl in his voice while turning towards to face his direction with an angry and frustrated tone in his voice. "I just don't understand it, what the hell is wrong with me! I thought that my own strong and enhanced senses were enough for me to detect the Chaos Emerald! Just what is going on!"

"It seems that someone or something has just found a remaining piece of the Chaos Emerald while the rest of the pieces have fell into the hands of the two humans and their Mobian friends," responded a mysterious voice that appeared out of the shadows of the old run-downed base with a cruel and yet amused tone of voice. "Even though I couldn't sense who or what just blocked its tremendous energy, I'm sure that the near-completed emerald fell into the hands of those foolish humans and their friends. As for the remaining piece, it's hard for me to say even with my great powers."

Just before the werewolf could have the chance to respond to who or what it is, he saw that the pirate spirits started to become a bit more confused and afraid of what they've just sensed or seen. Dilgear then started to scan and sniff all around his surroundings in order to see what his servants just sensed. As soon as he just started to sniff the air around the base that he and his spiritual servant were in, the werewolf soon began to tremble with terror at the incredible amount of power the he just sensed.

"Alright, whoever's there, you'd better show yourself right now or otherwise I'll have no choice but for me and my men to attack!" Dilgear responded to the visitor with a threatening tone while trying not to tremble at the same time as he continued to scan the surroundings in order to find the intruder.

As a response to the part werewolf and troll's words, the mysterious intruder's voice started to laugh menacingly throughout the entire old base that he was in. For when the laughter died down, Dilgear soon turned towards the direction of where the cruel and young voice came from. As soon as he finally faced the large machinery that looked like all of the others except that it was much bigger than all of the others that he looked at. That was when he started to sense a familiar energy that he'd felt just before he and his minions arrived into the world that he's in.

There was a powerful beam of bright light that engulfed the entire room just before Dilgear thought that he had lost his full sight. As soon as the werewolf was able to regain his full eyesight back, he looked all around his surroundings and saw that the ghostly green pirates bowing before to whatever was causing the intense white light. The moment that he laid his eyes on the source, Dilgear found himself staring at the ghostly image of the one that rose both his body and spirit back from the dead: the creature Nightmare Parasite Chaos.

"Hee! Hee! Hee! I see that you're a still a bit shocked for when Shade spoke to you from within the shadows of the place that you and your minions have settled in, Dilgear," the ghostly image of the liquified creature spoke to him just before he as it turning right behind it and spoke again. "Shade, show yourself to our friends who you are and let them see just what kind of a creature you are."

"As you wish, Lord Parasite," he heard the voice of the mysterious stranger saying to Nightmare Parasite just as he started to reveal himself out of the hiding place of the shadows.

What Dilgear saw in the moment was a young man who appears to be a human male, but with a closer inspection through his eyes, anyone whether they be human, Monster, or dragon, could see that he is quite different. Shade has long wavy crimson hair that only reach down to his broad shoulders. He also possesses a face that would make any woman that walks by him unable to resist. His eyes were chocolate brown and his skin is almost as white as snow. He also wore clothing that resembled that of a rich aristocratic family with the colors gold, red, and brown hanging all around the suit. He also wore a long red cape that stretched enough towards the ground. However, that was only a short description of what makes him look human.

As for the rest of his body, Shade possesses huge dark crimson bat-like wings that sprung from behind his back with the colors of red and purple on them. That was when Dilgear soon noticed that the wings that the human-like being has were indeed his very cape all the long. He also has long nails that look sharp and hard enough to cut through stone and even metal. His ears looked all pointed like that of an elf. The final inhuman description about Shade the Red Shadow is that in his mouth are teeth. But not these were no ordinary teeth, they were that of a vampire that look like he could sink his teeth into someone at any moment.

Before the werewolf could have the chance to say anything, the creature known as Shade started to go over to the ghostly image of the powerful liquid creature and bowed before its presence like a loyal dog. "Now, to answer your question, this person that you're seeing right now is Shade the Red Shadow, one of my generals for my Nightmare Army," he heard Nightmare Parasite saying to him with a calm tone in its voice. "He's here to watch over in your mission while you and your men are searching for the Chaos Emerald."

"Arrr! Just what do you mean by that for when we have to follow orders by this pretty lad right over here!" Dilgear heard the voice of one of the spirit pirates saying outloud just before he saw another sight before his eyes.

What he saw was the vampire being starting to materialize a bolt of crimson energy being whipped around as if it were rope. Next, he saw the electric red bolt striking the ghostly pirate with a power and force so strong that even the werewolf himself thought that he was once again in the presence of his former creator, Rezo. The spirit that was once in front of the vampire creature's presence was soon reduced to nothing but thin air. He also noticed that some of the other ghosts watched on in fear of becoming the next victim of Shade's merciless attack.

"Is there anyone else who would argue about the orders that Lord Parasite just gave us?" Shade asked everyone in the room just as the werewolf saw sparks of crimson energy starting to gather within his hand.

Dilgear knew better than to try to prevoke another attack out of the powerful being in front of him. So he just stayed where he was and bowed before the being that just easily took down one of his servants in one stroke. Just before that he could have the nerve to ask what was going to happen, the werewolf heard the voice of his savior/master saying to him, "I wouldn't worry about Shade trying to hurt you Dilgear. You're still a valuable asset to me and my plans. Now, as for Shade, he's only here to just look after you while you and your men try to bring the Chaos Emerald to me. Nothing else, but if someone or something gets in the way of carrying out your orders, then Shade would have no choice but to step in and take care of whoever would stand in the way."

"Understood, Lord Parasite," the werewolf said to his master with a sigh of relief as he got up from his bowing position and looked up towards the phantom image of Nightmare Parasite with a calm expression on his face. "Me and my men would do what we can to secure the Chaos Emerald for you. We'll also make sure that if anyone in this world should stand in our way, they'll have a taste of fear that they'll never forget."

"That's all that I've wanted to hear, Dilgear. Now, go and resume with your mission," he heard the powerful creature saying to him while also seeing it turning its full attention towards the powerful vampire general. "Shade, I would like for you to keep an eye on the two humans and those Mobians and observe them when or if you find them. If anyone else should get in your way, well it's their own bad luck."

While seeing a smile appearing on the young face of Nightmare Parasite's general as he nodded, Dilgear saw the liquid creature's entire ghostly image starting fade from existence. He also saw the vampire Shade starting to fade into the shadows of wence he came from. As soon as he saw the powerful being was up and gone, the werewolf soon turned his full attention back towards his spiritual servants, who he saw now on their feet and awaited for any further instructions to be given.

"Well, what are you fools waiting for?" Dilgear said to all of the pirate ghosts while at the same time sounding confident and tough again. "Let's get off of our lazy asses and continue the search for that Chaos Emerald as well as the humans that have it! For Lord Parasite!"

"ARRRRRR!" the ghostly green pirates within the room shouting in unison just before starting to resume their search for the cosmic emerald.

**End of Part 6.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Note to readers:** I'm so sorry for being late with putting this chapter for all of you. I guess that trying to add more characters into this story and improving it proved to be more difficult than I imaged. In any case, I'm still planning to put World Three into the story as well as some of SEGA's most popular characters at **Chapter 8**. In any case, I hope that I get reviews from all of you. It would really mean a lot to get some honest feedback so that I could improve more. I also want to apologize on making the chapter too long. But I had too many ideas in my mind and it all came out and once. In any case, I would like to thank the group known as **Generation A** for their continued support. Oh, and **Megaman-NG**, thanks for the reviews that you've submitted. It really means a lot. I would also like to thank **AnimeMasterZero** for putting up the story of his called **_"Rockman Exe: The College Years." _**This story of his is just starting to heat up and I hope that I get to see more chapters soon. Well, that's about it for this month. Later!

**Part 7**

Miguel suddenly started wake up all of a sudden for as he rose from his bed and looked around the room that he's in. After asking the Chaotix all about what they have been doing near the advanced terminal, the teen began to sigh with both confusion and amusement for when he heard that they were speaking with both Lan and MegaMan. Before he could ask anything else about their little conversation, Miguel heard Sylphiel yawning from the distance meaning that she must've been tired for all that's happened today. It had been around 8:20 p.m. at the time the last time he checked a clock for the current time. That was when he decided that they should all call it a night and get their rest so that they could save up their strength for when they searched for the remaining piece of the Chaos Emerald tomorrow.

The Chaotix were a bit disappointed with the thought of having to sleep early at the time, but Miguel quickly reminded them of why they were all in the world that they're in now. After a few moments of numerous arguments and whining, the teen was finally able to get the four Mobians to agree with getting to bed and resting up for the next day. That was when they started to search through the huge tree house to see if there are any bedrooms to sleep in. Lucky for them, they were able to find five separate rooms with a bed in each of them as well as some cabinets and closets for cloths. They even have windows on top of the ceiling so that they could have a nice view of the sky.

As soon as they've found out the number of rooms there are, Miguel started to discuss on who should take what room. They all agreed that Charmy is still a little too young to have a room on his own so Mighty was glad to share a room with the young bee. Both Vector and Espio happily agreed to both have a room of their own as well as both Miguel and Sylphiel.

In any case, just as he looked at the window on the ceiling, the teen saw the night sky being decorated with the numerous amounts of stars that adorn its black surface. _"Now what was that disturbance that I've just felt?" _Miguel thought to himself as he tried to understand the energy that he'd just felt during his sleep. _"What could be that strong enough to wake me up? Whatever it is, it was able to emit a strong amount of Chaos Energy. The only being that I could think of that would be able to emit that much power is Nightmare Parasite Chaos and it could be in another dimension rotting in some hole. But, it's strange. The energy that I'm feeling right now isn't like Parasite's. Almost as if it were this being was human but not completely. I don't know, maybe it's just about what happened to me today that's been really bugging me." _

As he thought about those thoughts, the teen got up from the bed and began to look around his surroundings and saw that he was still in the same world that he landed in along with Sylphiel and the Chaotix. _"Hee! Two years ago, this all would've been strange to me," _he thought to himself just as he laid himself back on the mattress of the bed he was sleeping on. _"I mean, no one back in my world would ever believe what I've just been through and saw throughout this time. I mean, it probably wouldn't matter since time over there is much slower for when I'm outside it. I mean, for all I know, by the time I do get back to my world it would be as if I've never left. If anyone were to learn of this, they probably want to get here too and..." _

Just before he could finish the rest of his thoughts, Miguel started to hear a knock coming from the entrance to his room. _"I wonder who would be up at this time?" _the teen thought to himself just as he looked at the watch on the wall and saw that it was about 2:00 a.m. in the morning before he began to speak. "Who is it? Do you know that it's 2:00 a.m. in the morning?"

"Miguel, it's me, Sylphiel," he heard the voice of his female friend saying to him while at the same time using a meek and innocent tone of voice as he was surprised from the response.

"Sylphiel? Just what in the world are you doing up at this time?" the teen asked with a curious and shocked tone just as the shrine maiden just as he approached the door and reached for the knob.

As soon as he opened the door, Miguel saw Sylphiel right in front of the door with both her priestess cape and vestments removed revealing her broad and yet soft shoulders. He also saw her arms crossing over each other as he saw her feeling helpless and cold from the night. From what he could see in her face, the teen could tell that the shrine maiden is feeling very helpless and frighten.

"Hey, what is it, Sylphiel?" the teen asked his female friend just as he spoke with a concerned and yet tired tone in his voice. "Is something bothering you? Did you have a bad dream or something?"

There was an awkward and long silence for a moment for when Miguel asked that question. Before he could have the chance to break the long silence with his voice, the teen heard Sylphiel speaking to him with a shy and quiet tone, "It's nothing, Miguel. I've just had a terrible feeling within my body just as I was sleeping and looked all over the place to see where it came from. It's like nothing that I've ever felt before since our first encounter with Nightmare Parasite. But the energy that I'm feeling is nothing like that disgusting thing. It's almost as if it were part human as well, only this one is extremely terrifying and powerful."

_"I guess that I wasn't the only one that sensed the power that I've felt a moment ago," _Miguel thought to himself just as he placed one of his hands on one of the shrine maiden's shoulders and began to speak to her with a reassuring tone in his voice. "Sylphiel, I'm not too sure that it's something that we need to worry about. I've felt the same thing too and it's just like what you've just described."

The teen soon heard a surprising gasp coming from his female companion from the response that he gave to her. "Look, it might probably just be nothing, Sylphiel," Miguel responded to Sylphiel with a calm tone just as he took his hand off of her shoulder and started to reach for the door. "It could be some sort of reaction that we're having towards the Chaos Emerald shard that we're looking for or it could be just another nightmare that we're having. In any case, we can't do anything about it now. We should just try to get back to sleep and..."

Before he could finish the rest of his sentence, he heard the shrine maiden cutting into his words by saying to him while at the same time giving him a teary-eyed look as she embraced herself harder as if she's suffering from a chill, "Miguel, I don't want to go back into my room. You see, the truth is that I'm afraid of sleeping or being alone."

This new information took Miguel by surprised for when he heard those words come out of the young female's mouth. He didn't think that the shrine maiden mind if she were to take a room for herself. But hearing this coming from her lips simply changes things.

"Sylphiel, why did you tell me this just now?" the teen asked the shrine maiden just as he moved out of the way for her to enter his room and closed the door. "I mean, when we were arranging for who gets which room, we all thought that you wouldn't mind having a room to yourself. I mean, you sure were polite about it."

"(Sighs) I just didn't want to offend anyone for when they've asked me about it," Sylphiel responded to Miguel's words with a soft tone just as she sat on the bed that he was laying on. "I'm sort of used to dealing with the feelings that I have for whenever I sleep alone. But, whenever I do, I wake up in the morning only to find myself all alone in whatever room I slept in with tears in my eyes. I just don't want to be that way anymore. Do you mind if I slept with you for tonight so that you could keep me company?"

The very question sort caught the teen surprised and off guard for when he heard those words from the shrine maiden. He even started to blush at the thought of the young woman sharing the same bed as he is. "Whoa! Wait a minute, Sylphiel!" he said to his female friend with a confused and panicked tone in his voice just as he saw her facing his direction with a look of confusion on her pretty face. "Now, I understand that you can't stand having to sleep all alone in a room by yourself, but this is just so sudden! I mean, the two of us sleeping in the same room together is just too soon! I mean, we shouldn't be...!"

Before he could have the chance to finish the rest of his sentence, Miguel's words were soon cut off for when he heard the shrine maiden saying to him with calm and yet disappointed tone of voice just as he saw her starting to get up from his bed to leave, "I'm so sorry, Miguel. I didn't mean to startle you like that. I'll just leave you alone and I won't be a bother to you anymore."

Before he could give her the chance to do so, the teen started to regain his full composure and said to her with a mutual tone, "Wait a minute, Sylphiel! I didn't mean it like that. I mean, I don't mind sharing the bed with you. Uh, I mean, I was just too confused and shocked for when you asked me to keep you company. I just didn't think that you wouldn't like me touching you anywhere on your body. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings by saying that."

As soon as he said those words, Miguel saw Sylphiel starting to face away from the door to his room and said to him with a cute and hopeful expression on her face, "I know that you wouldn't do this sort of thing to me, Miguel. You're one of the most trusted friends that I've ever had. So, does this mean that I could be allowed to sleep with you for tonight?"

While giving into the puppy dog eyes that the shrine maiden gave to him, the teen soon began to give off a sigh of defeat just as he spoke with a calm tone, "I guess that I have no choice in the matter. So I guess that it's okay for you to stay here if you want."

As he saw a happy expression starting to appearing on her face, Miguel blushed for when he saw Sylphiel starting to wrap her arms around his body just as she said, "Thank you, Miguel! You don't know how happy that you've made me! I promise that I won't be a bother to you for when I get on your bed!"

"But I still don't think that the two of us sharing the same bed together is such a good idea, Sylphiel," the teen said to the shrine maiden just as he released himself from her embrace and tried to not blush right in front of her. "I mean, I should just sleep on the floor if just being near me is making you uncomfortable. I don't want to..."

Just as he was about to protest, Miguel started to hear the cute giggles of Sylphiel just before he saw her walking towards his bed and alreadied laid herself on one of the sides of his bed while wrapping her entire body within the blankets. "Don't worry about that, Miguel," the shrine maiden said playfully just as he saw her starting to get comfortable within the bed's soft mattress as well as the pillows and blankets. "Both you and I could just tuck in separate blankets so that we wouldn't be touching each other. But if you really want to..."

"Okay! I think that the two of us should be getting to sleep right now!" the teen responded to his female friend rapidly just as he closed to door quietly and started to approach his side of the bed while trying not to show the blush on his face. That was when he became a bit hesitate for when he was about to get into the bed.

_"Great! This is totally embarrassing! I'm going to sleep in bed next to a very beautiful girl!" _He thought to himself with a nervous tone in his mind's voice just as he started to go into the bed with the shrine maiden while at the same time breathing in some air to calm himself. _"Okay, Miguel. Just stay cool and don't do anything that might embarrass you or her for the rest of your lives. Just keep yourself covered with another blanket and you'll be just fine." _

As soon as his thoughts were finished and his body full wrapped around the blanket, Miguel turned his face towards Sylphiel's direction and saw her already starting to drift off to sleep. _"Well, at least it's easier for her to get to sleep,"_ the teen thought to himself just as he stared at the peaceful expression on his female's companion's face before turning away. _"It must be rough for her to deal with the kind of pain that she's going through all by herself. Especially for when it comes to dealing with the lost of everything she loves. Well, at least she'll be able to sleep easier tonight since I'm going to be the one to keep her company. All I have to do is just don't make too much movements that might disturb her and then..." _

Miguel's thoughts were soon cut short for when he felt something wrapping themselves all around his own body. He then started to blush furiously for when he realized that it was the shrine maiden's own arms being wrapped around him. Just as he was about to release himself from her arms' embrace, the teen began to hear Sylphiel's relaxed and drowsy voice saying to him with another cute giggle in her voice as she cuddle closer to him with a strong hold, "Holding something like this actually helps me to sleep a lot better. Besides, you're so soft and warm to hold. Mmmmmm. I hope that you don't mind."

Before he knew it, Miguel soon found himself mumbling nervously and quietly to her while blushing madly, "Well...I-I-I don't k-k-k-now about that, S-S-S-Sylphiel! I d-d-d-don't think that a-a-a girl like you is s-s-suppose to do th-th-that! I mean, th-th-th-this is so inappro...!"

Before he could have the chance to finish the rest of his sentence, the teen started to hear the cute giggling of Sylphiel just as he felt her embrace growing tighter and felt her face being snuggled onto his back. "But I like it like this, Miguel," he heard her saying to him with a childish and drowzy tone just as Miguel tried his best to turn himself to face the shrine maiden while at the same time trying to loosen the strong arms' embrace that he was in.

Before he knew what was happening, he soon found her head starting to rest on his chest with a peaceful expression on her face. As soon as he looked at Sylphiel's face and was about to argue some more, the teen soon found himself looking at her sleeping face and just didn't have the heart to tell her to let him go. _"Well, at least she's now asleep," _he thought to himself while giving off a quiet sigh of relief just before he felt the beautiful female starting to embrace him more tighter than the first time as if he were a huge stuffed animal. _"Well, she does look rather cute sleeping like this. I mean, no one else is in the room right now to make us feel embarrassed. Now that I think about it. It really doesn't feel all that bad having a beautiful young woman in my arms that only wants to have some company. I must be in heaven!" _

As soon as he finally realized what he just thought, Miguel soon started to shake his head off just before he tried to get his thoughts in order, _"What was I thinking! Why would I have thoughts like that! I mean, Sylphiel has got to be older than me by about two years and here I am wrapping my arms around her! What the hell am I even doing considering the thought!" _

Before he could have the chance to consider the thoughts even further, the teen soon found himself yawning and becoming a bit too drowzy from the mental struggle that he had with himself. _"Man, am I so tired," _Miguel thought to himself just as finally gave up and started to embrace Sylphiel with his own arms. _"I guess that I have to get some rest as well. I mean, no use in worrying about a problem like this for when a piece of the Chaos Emerald is still out there somewhere. Well, it's off to dreamland for me." _

"Good night, Sylphiel. Sweet dreams," that was what the teen said softly to the shrine maiden in his arms just before he closed his eyes and began to dose off to sleep.

For when she first opened her eyes and woke up to the morning sun, Sylphiel started to look around the place that she's in more refreshed than she had been for years. Just as she was about to get up from her resting place, the shrine maiden felt two arms being wrapped around her body as if she were a stuffed animal. Just as she could panic about the realization that someone is in the bed with her, Sylphiel looked up at the person that she's with and saw that it was none other than her friend Miguel that has his arms wrapped all around her body. That was when the memory of last night's events started to come into her mind calming her down a bit.

_"I'm just glad that it didn't lead to anything...final," _Sylphiel thought to herself just as she blushed at the thought that crawled through her mind before she calmed herself down a bit as she began to release herself from the younger male's embrace. _"I guess that all I need was a little company to help me sleep better. Miguel was certainly good person to allow me to sleep with him like this. _

_"Perhaps I should do something to thank him. Maybe a well-cooked breakfast would be a good way of showing him how grateful I am for letting me hold him last night. Yeah, I'm sure that the Chaotix wouldn't mind a good breakfast either. After all, they would all need the energy if they're all going to track down the last shard to the Chaos Emerald. Speaking of which, I'd better go back to my room and check on it."_

As she reluctantly released herself from her male companion's embrace, the shrine maiden started to blush a bit just before she calmed herself down a bit in order to think properly. Sylphiel started to notice Miguel starting to stir a bit in his own sleep for a moment just before he dozed right back to his own slumber. The shrine maiden then sighed quietly to herself as she began to quietly walk towards the entrance of the bedroom. Sylphiel was also glad that she wasn't able to wake up anyone from the other rooms so that she wouldn't have to explain to the Chaotix about why she coming was out of Miguel's room.

Just as she re-entered the bedroom that she was about to sleep in, the shrine maiden began to search within her cape, a dickery that has a red jewel embedded onto it, purple gloves, and tunic that's on the chair besides her both of her violet boots. As soon as she finished rummaging through her priestess attire, Sylphiel soon found herself looking at a near-completed green Chaos Emerald within her hands as it sparkled like another piece of jewelry.

_"It's still hard for me to believe that this little jewel could contain so much power,"_ she thought to herself as she continued to stare at the green jewel with a fasinated look beaming all around her face. _"I mean, from the moment that I've first took a look at one of these from one of my previous adventures, I thought that they would be harmless. Now after discovering that I've absorbed some of its latent energies and harnessed powers and abilities that I never knew I had." _

Sylphiel paused for a long moment just before placing the cosmic emerald back in its place and started to think about having to sleep with Miguel last night for when she felt terrified at sleeping all alone. The thought soon caused her to blush just as she dismissed it and started to put on both of her boots. Before she knew it, the shrine maiden was marching herself outside of her bedroom and towards the kitchen.

_"Now it's time for me to get breakfast started," _the female thought to herself just as she entered into the kitchen and started to rummage through the refrigerator in order to get the ingredients needed in order to begin her next great meal. _"Now, let's see. We have eggs, bacon, sausage, orange juice, butter, milk, hash browns, and pancake mix. This is perfect! These ingredients are just what I needed. I do sure hope there's enough for everyone. I guess I'd better get started."_

With those thoughts done in her mind, Sylphiel started to grab all of the ingredients that she listed in her mind and started to make the breakfast that she has planned to make for everyone that are still asleep within their rooms.

Just as he was suddenly awoken by the loud voice of his Navi, Lan did all that he could to keep from falling onto the ground. The boy started to grumble a bit for just as he started to say to his friend, "MegaMan, why did you do that for? I was having such a nice dream!"

"Well, if I hadn't yelled, then you wouldn't be able to get up at all," he heard his blue Net Navi saying to him with a stern and scolding tone of voice. "Anyway, you've already spend about fifteen minutes staying in bed while I was trying to get you to wake up. If you don't get a move on, you'll be late for Ms. Mari's class...again! You only have like about fifteen minutes to be there on time, so you'd better hurry up!"

With those words said by his Navi, Lan quickly began to grab his usual daily attire and started to change out of his bed wear. Before he knew it, he was rushing down the stairs of his home while trying to get his blue head band on his head. That was when he started to notice the smell of his mother's delicious cooking reaching his nose just as he walked towards the dining room. As soon as he reached his destination, Lan soon found himself listening to his mother humming her usual cheerful tune just as she finished making several hash browns.

"Morning mom!" the boy said to his mother just as he saw her turning towards him with a smile on her face.

"Morning Lan, I see that you've been waking up late again as always," she said to him with a giggle in her voice just before she arrived into the dining room with a plate that has eggs, bacon, hash browns, and pancakes on it. "Now, do you want some orange juice with your breakfast or would you rather prefer milk?"

"I prefer to have some juice, please!" Lan responded just as he started to quickly gobble up everything that's on his plate in matter of minutes before wiping the outside of his mouth with his napkin. "But please make it quick! I'm already late enough to get to Ms. Mari's as it is!"

"Oh? Didn't you get that e-mail notice from your school, Lan?" he heard his mother asking just as he was starting to become shocked with what his mother said.

"Notice? How come that I've never heard of it up until now?" the head-banded teen asked while at the same time trying not to choke on the food that he has in his within his mouth before turning his full attention towards his P.E.T.with a annoyed expression towards his Navi. "MegaMan, how come that you've never mentioned anything from the school before you woke me up?"

As if to respond to his question, he heard the little blue Navi chuckling nervously just as he spoke, "Ha. Ha. Ha. I guess that I was just too busy with trying to get you up that I've totally forgot all about it. But I'll go check your inbox right now and see if it's there."

Just as he drank the glass of orange juice that his mother prepared for him, Lan patiently awaited for what his Net Navi found for him. A few seconds later, he quickly turned his full attention back towards his little blue friend while at the same time seeing him with a nervous smile on his face, "Well, it seems mom was right about that e-mail from the school after all, Lan. It says that due to some unexplained occurrences that took place in Dentech Academy yesterday, the school would be closed up until Monday for it's under the full investigation of the Net Police. I guess that there wasn't a reason for me to wake you up after all. Ah, ha ha ha."

As he heard the blue Navi's nervous and quiet chuckle, he was just too focused on what his friend said before. _"Dentech Academy is closed up because of strange things that happened there?" _Lan thought to himself as he stared at his empty plate. _"Then what I've just experienced wasn't a dream after all! Those animal-like aliens from a bizzare world, the two humans from possibly alternate reality of my world, the Chaos Emerald, the Star Sword, and those green pirate ghost-like creatures. Everything that both me and MegaMan as well as our friends just experienced last night was all real! Even that annoy conversation that Vector was trying to...!"_

Just before he could have the chance to finish the rest of his thoughts, the head-banded boy soon heard the voice of his own mother saying to him while at the same time trying to get his full attention with a worried tone, "Lan, are you alright? You haven't touched a bite of your food and you usually eat about four plate fulls of breakfast."

"Mom's right about that, Lan," he heard the voice of his Navi saying to him with the same concerned tone in his voice while the boy looked at his friend. "You usually start pigging out at the sight of food right in front of you. Now what's wrong?"

As soon as he heard those words, Lan soon snap himself out of his thoughts and began to say to both his Navi and mother by saying with a cheerful tone of voice, "No, it's nothing. It's just that I thought that I was a little surprised that school is going to be canceled. Not that I would mind having the day off and all."

"Oh, I bet you would," he heard MegaMan saying to him with a sarcastic and smart-aleck tone in his voice. "I mean, with me trying to get you to wake up every morning, you should call it a miracle."

"Shut up, MegaMan," was the boy's response to his Navi while at the same time doing noticing the plate full of food right in front of him along with orange juice as he began to eat at a slower pace. "Thanks for the second helping, mom!"

"You're welcome, Lan!" he heard his mother saying to him while hearing her humming her usual happy tone just as he also heard the sounds of sizzling food coming from the kitchen. "Hey Lan, did you happen to contact that young man Miguel that brought you home last night to thank him? He really seems like a nice young man along with his friends dressed in those animal costumes."

When those words reached his ears, Lan found himself starting to say to his mother with a sort of surprised tone in his voice, "Mom, I've just barely met the guy and those two costumed kids. I don't even know if they even have Navis or not, let alone their own P.E.T.s."

"Well don't be so sure about that, Lan," his blue Navi responded to him with a sort of mutual tone in his voice. "Last night, Vector and the guys called up on us to see how we're doing and they also...!"

Before he could allow his Navi friend to speak further into the subject, the head-banded Netbattler began to say to his friend with a stern voice as he pushed the MUTE button on his P.E.T. in order to silence him, "MegaMan! You shouldn't be telling mom all about that! Now's not the time to start talking about me and Maylu having a good relationship or stuff like that!"

As soon as he finally realized what he just said out loud, Lan began to turn towards the entrance of the kitchen and saw his mother looking at him with a small but happy and mischievous grin on her face just as she said to him, "So, what's this about you and Maylu having a small relationship, Lan? It seems to me that that's what you've been trying to keep MegaMan from talking about. So what did this person Vector say about this relationship that you've had with Maylu, Lan?"

The young twelve year old boy began to blush with a shade of red on his face for when he heard those words from his mother. He was blushing so badly that he wished that he could crawl into a hole and die. Just before he could even have the chance to explain about what happened, Lan began to hear his Personal Terminal starting to beep rapidly signaling him that someone sent in a message. Seeing this as the perfect excuse to get out of his current predicament, the boy began to say to his mother with a rushed tone in his voice, "Sorry, mom! I have to answer this one! It could be from the Net Police and I have to answer it through my room. Thanks for the food!"

Just before he could give his mom the chance to say 'You're welcome,' or anything for that matter, Lan was up and running up towards the stairs to his room. As soon as he was in the confines of his own room, the young boy started to push the MUTE button on his P.E.T. again and before he knew it, he began to hear the voice of his blue Navi beginning to say to his NetOp with an annoyed tone in his voice, "Lan! I hate it for when you push that button! You have no right to do that just when I was about to say something!"

"Well, you shouldn't be spilling the beans about something as personal as to what Vector said about both me and Maylu in the first place, MegaMan," Lan replied to his Navi with a annoyed and angered tone just as he placed his P.E.T. on his computer terminal's own port. "Besides, I wasn't the only one who was embarrassed for when those guys also mentioned about you having a crush on Roll and..."

"Lan, I think that we should just forget about that and get a good look at that e-mail that just arrived!" MegaMan said with an embarrassed and yet serious tone in his voice just as he saw the blue Navi starting to scan the e-mail data that was sent while at the same time calming himself down. "Lan, it's from Mr. Famous. He says that he would want you to go to headquarters along with Chaud. Apparently, he would like to ask you some things about what happened yesterday."

"Well, I guess that I should get going there then," the boy replied to his Navi with a sigh of annoyance as he began to marched out of his room and towards the hall.

Just as he was about to go through the front door and pick up his shoes, Lan heard the voice of his mother saying to him, "Lan, where are you going at this time, dear? Aren't you going to finish the rest of your breakfast?"

"I'm off to the Net Police HQ, mom!" the boy responded to his mother's words just as he finished tying the laces on his shoes. "Something important just came up and I have to go see what it is. It won't take me too long to get it done so I'll be back in a little bit."

"Just be back by the afternoon!" he heard the voice of his mother saying to him with just before he exited through the front door and started to attach his skates onto the bottom of his shoes.

Just as he skated along streets of his neighborhood, Lan began to hear the voice of his Navi saying to him, "Do you think that Famous and Chaud are going to ask all about what happened yesterday?"

"Somehow, I think that it's going to be a lot more than that, MegaMan," the boy said to his blue friend while at the same time passing through a STOP sign and skated towards his left. "I mean, how would you explain to them that we just had a close encounter with two humans and animal-like aliens from another planet?"

"Yeah, I see your point there, Lan," he heard MegaMan responding to him with a thoughtful tone before speaking again. "Speaking of whom, how do you think those guys doing in Yai's treehouse right now?"

"Well, we could go there on our way back from the main office of the Net Police," Lan answered to his Navi while at the same time seeing his destination coming within his sights as he closed in on it. "Right now though, I don't want to know what they're planning to do. After what that Vector guy tried to do by asking us about our personal lives, I'd rather not know what those guys are planning to do with us. But for now, let's focus on getting to the meeting before we show up late again."

"For once, I'm not going to argue with you on that one, Lan," the young head-banded Netbattler heard his blue Navi saying just as he jetted himself through the entrance of the Net Police Building and started for Famous's office.

Just as the four of them began to march out of each of their own rooms, the Chaotix were a bit surprised for when they saw Sylphiel in the kitchen near the stove cooking some meat while at the same time trying to prepare some dishes on the counter next to the stove that she's working on. That was when Vector chose that moment to speak his mind for as he said, "Yo, what up, girl? What are you doing up at this hour? And is that bacon that I smell coming from the stove?"

As if to respond to the green crocodile's question, the four Mobians heard her being startled and then began to speak to them with a sort of calm and friendly tone of voice just as they saw her giving them a beautiful smile on her face, "Hello, everybody! I hope that you all don't mind that I've made breakfast for everyone. It's seems that there's little too much food in the refrigerator so I thought that I would be able to make everyone breakfast as a surprise."

"No, we don't mind at all, Sylphiel," Mighty said to the shrine maiden as he looked as surprised as the rest of his companions just as he looked on and continued to watch her cook the food that's on the stove. "It's just that you've surprised us a bit for when we saw you cooking breakfast at this time."

"Well, I don't mind cooking and serving everyone breakfast, Mighty," they all heard Sylphiel saying just as they all saw her coming out from the kitchen and looked at her dirty hands that's covered with the grease of the food that she was cooking on the frying pan. "I thought that since every one of you were so nice to me about what I've told you last night, I figured that I would thank all of you by making breakfast for everyone."

"Why that's a nice thing for you to do, Sylphiel," Espio said to the shrine maiden while at the same time yawning with exhaustion in his voice. "We're really starving after that long sleep we all had last night, I'm prepared to have some food in my belly."

"That's for sure, Espy!" they all heard the voice of their young friend Charmy starting to say to them while at the same time watching the bee flying up towards the young human girl before speaking again. "Do you want help with trying to get breakfast for everyone on the table, Sylphiel? I would be more than happy to help out."

"Hee! Hee! Hee! Sure, Charmy. That's very sweet of you," they heard Sylphiel responding to the young bee's request with a cute giggle in her voice just as three of the Chaotix saw him starting to fly towards the kitchen with so much energy and enthusiasm. "Since you're going to help me out, think that you could start by helping me stir the bacon on the stove while I prepare the pancake mix?"

"Sure thing, Miss Sylphiel!" the three Mobians heard the young bee saying to the shrine maiden while at the same time walking towards the entrance towards the kitchen of the treehouse and saw Charmy already starting to stir the sizzling bacon on the frying pan.

"Yo! What about us?" Vector asked with a serious tone just as he entered the room along with both Espio and Mighty who were starting to look worried and sighed with defeat. "Isn't there anything that the rest of us could do to help with preparing breakfast?"

"Don't worry about a thing, Vec," Charmy responded to the green crocodile while at the same time continuing to stir the nearly perfected meat that's on the frying pan. "You guys could just sit down in the living room and relax while both me and Sylphiel continue to get breakfast ready. The two of us should be able to get it ready."

"Yeah. Yeah, Charms. Whatever you say," Espio said to the young bee while he and his two companions started for the dining room and sat at a random chair of his choice before speaking to both Mighty and Vector. "Boy, guys. You'd think that with all that energy that Charmy is putting to help out Sylphiel, it make him look like that he was interested in her."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, Espy," Mighty responded to the purple chameleon with a smile on his face while at the same time tilting his chair backwards as he kept his seat in balance. "He could be attracted to all kinds of pretty girls, but at least he's got better matters than Vector did around Cream's mom."

"Hey! I'm not that bad, Might!" the green crocodile said to the armadillo with an annoyed tone of voice just as he looked at him with a threatening glare on his face before calming down as soon as he realized something. "Hey, has anyone seen Miguel this morning?"

"You know Vec, I was thinking the exact same thing," Espio said to the croco while at the same time looking all around the room to see where their human friend could be. "I haven't seen a trace of that guy since we all got up. Just where in the world is he?"

As if on cue, all three members of the Chaotix soon heard a big yawn coming from the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. Before either of them knew it, they all saw the tired image of their human friend Miguel starting to tiredly approach them while at the same time trying his best to get himself fully awake. As soon as he reached one of the chairs around table and sat himself down on one of them, the three Mobians heard the human teen giving out another yawn that sounded like a lion trying to awake from its long slumber.

"So, did you have a nice sleep last night, Miguel?" Espio asked Miguel with a curious tone in his voice while at the same time seeing him stretch both his arms and legs.

As soon as they saw him finishing with stretching his limbs, the three Chaotix members heard their human friend starting to say to them while at the same time giving out another loud and long yawn, "(Yawn!) You could say that, Espio. (Sniffs) Hey, is that some of Sylphiel's cooking that I'm smelling right now?"

"Yep, you got that right, homeboy!" Vector responded to the human teen with a smile on his reptilian face. "From the way that girl of yours cooks, I'd say that she were an expert chef or a home maker of some kind."

Before they could hear Miguel responding to the green crocodile's words while trying to deny that Sylphiel was "his girl," they soon saw the beautiful human girl coming out of the kitchen not expecting her to make her entrance. They soon noticed that she turned her full attention towards the young man's direction with a bright smile starting to appear on her face before she said to him with a polite and yet shy tone in her voice, "Oh, Miguel. I didn't hear you come in while I was cooking. I see that you're awake already. Well, don't worry about breakfast. Both me and Charmy should be able to get it ready for you as well as the rest of the Chaotix in a matter of minutes. Do you think that you could be patient a bit more while I get the rest of our breakfast ready?"

"Oh, well sure I can Sylphiel," they heard Miguel responding to the beautiful girl with a sort of shy and flustered tone in his voice. "Just take all of the time that you need. The last thing that we would want is for you to burn whatever it is that you're cooking for breakfast. Heh!"

As soon as they heard the two teens saying those words, Vector, Espio, and Mighty soon focused their full attentions towards Miguel who they saw starting to become a bit flustered with what his female companion said to him. That was when they also noticed that the shades of red starting to appear on the shrine maiden's beautiful face while looking like an innocent girl being asked out on a date. That was when the long silence was broken for when Sylphiel said, "Well, I guess I'd better help Charmy get the rest of the breakfast ready. Despite having cooked before, he's still a small child. I'll see you in a little bit."

_"Well, it already looks to me like both Miguel and Sylphiel have something very interesting that they wouldn't want anyone around here to find out," _the green crocodile thought to himself with a sly grin on his face just as he saw the shrine maiden beginning to leave the dining room and turned his full attention towards Miguel again who was still a bit flustered. _"Judging from the way those two are acting towards one another, I'd say that those two are starting to get the hint about one another. Perhaps I won't need to launch my plan on those two since they're both mature adults. Besides, I do owe them one for helping us take out that monster back in Miguel's world and they deserved some privacy after..." _

Just before Vector could have the chance to finish the rest of his thoughts, he along with Miguel, Espio, and Mighty were suddenly startled by the voice of the young human girl named Yai who was speaking to them with a sly tone of voice as she seemed to appear out of nowhere, "Heh! Heh! Heh! It looks to me that both Miguel and Sylphiel are a bit embarrassed about what they did last night."

"Yo! Where did you come from, Yai?" Mighty said to the little blonde girl with a surprised tone in his voice just as all three of the Chaotix started to turn towards the source of where the voice came from and saw the little girl grinning at them with a sly and playful smile on her young face.

"And what do you mean by what you said about both Miguel and Sylphiel having done something last night?" Espio added to his friend's words with both a confused and surprised tone in his voice just before he spoke again. "Just where in the world do you get infomation like that anyway?"

"That's what I'd like to know myself," they all heard Miguel suddenly spoke up with a suspicious and yet nervous tone in his voice as the three Mobians saw him keeping his eyes aimed at Yai.

"Well, just to remind all of you that I'm the rightful owner of the building that you're all sleeping in, remember?" the young human girl said to the three Mobians while her big forehead shined with light with a mischevous grin on her face as she held up a couple of photos within her hand. "As for how I knew about what those two did, I had Glyde look over at all of the security cameras that have been installed all around the treehouse in case any intruders come in. I also had him take a couple of pictures of the two of them nestled in each others' arms like a cute married couple!"

As soon as they all heard those words, the three members of the Chaotix all heard Miguel starting to give out a panicked gasp just as he spoke to Yai while getting up from his seat, "Wh-Wh-What! Just how in the world were you able to take a picture of both me and Sylphiel like that and what makes you think that we are a couple! First of all, Sylphiel came into my room last night because she's scared of being all by herself at night and she looks so defenseless and cute for when she asked to sleep with me in my room. I've felt so bad for her that I've allowed her to come into my room and..."

That was when they heard the older human teen cutting his words short for when he realized what he just said. Everyone in the room soon saw him starting to sit back down on the seat that he was in with an embarrassed expression on his face as well as a shade of red on his face. "I'm so terribly sorry to have taken those pictures, Miguel," the three friends heard the voice of the butler Navi Glyde saying to their human friend with an apologenic tone of voice while his image appeared over the P.E.T. device that his NetOp held. "It's just that Miss Yai gets so curious for when she noticed that both you and Miss Sylphiel being rather friendly to one another like you shown us yesterday. She just couldn't help it."

"Glyde, just go off in your daily rounds and come back for when you're done," the three members of the Chaotix heard the little girl saying to her Navi just before they saw Glyde bowing respectfully and his image disappearing from above her Personal Terminal.

She then turned towards Miguel's direction with an amused expression just as she held out a couple of pictures towards their direction before speaking again, "Well, well, well. It seems that Miguel here is a bit embarrassed about what both he and Sylphiel did last night! Hee! Hee! Hee! Well, I'm sure that the Chaotix would be more than interested to take a peek at what..."

Just before Yai could have the chance to finish the rest of her sentence, Vector suddenly spoke up with a serious tone in his voice as he said to her while raising his hand towards her direction, "I think that me and my friends here would pass on seein' those pics, little girl. I mean, both Miguel and Sylphiel are mature adults and they're able to make their own decisions in life. What they did is their business and their business alone."

A moment of long silence began to go across the room that they were in. First both Mighty and Espio began to look at the green crocodile with shocked and worried expressions on their faces along with Yai. Even Miguel turned his full attention towards Vector's direction with a surprised and shocked expression on his face.

"Whoa, Vec. Were you just trying to be mature just now?" the purple chameleon said to the green crocodile with a surprised tone as he move towards his friend's direction and examined him like a doctor would do to a patient. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Of course that I'm fine, Espy!" Vector responded to his friend's words with a rather annoyed tone as he swatted Espio away from him like a fly. "It's just that I don't think that it would be right for us to be divin' into Miguel and Sylphiel's business is all. Wouldn't you agree, Might?"

"Well, I can't believe that I find myself saying this, but I have to agree with Vector on this one," the black and orange armadillo said as he too was as surprised as his purple friend was just as he turned his full attention towards the little girl. "I mean, I don't think that it's really nice to start making fun of Miguel and Sylphiel with those pictures that you took of them. I mean, the four of us owe these guys for when they've saved us from all of the trouble that we ourselves caused back in Miguel's world for when we've fought with a part of a monster named Nightmare Parasite that's from another world completely."

"Nightmare Parasite," they all heard the voice of Miguel saying the name of the monster with such anger and hatred in it. "That monster was resposible for the deaths of so many people back then for when both me and Sylphiel first met! People from another world that didn't know what was going to happen or what hit them for when that thing...!"

They soon heard the human teen started to silence himself for when he finally figured that he spoke a bit too much about the monster that they heard both he and Sylphiel call Nightmare Parasite. All three of the Chaotix didn't know what to say to Miguel for when he spoke those words right in front of the little girl. Before either Vector, Mighty, or Espio could have the chance to speak to their human friend in order to calm him down, they saw the little rich girl starting to walk up towards him with a sort of frightened and sad expression her face.

"I didn't know all about that, Miguel," they heard the young girl named Yai saying to them while at the same time saw her face's expression feeling ashamed about what she was going to do as she pocketed the pictures that she had in her hands just as she turned her full attention back towards Miguel. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make fun of both you and Sylphiel if you are going to react like that. I just thought that the two of you would enjoy a good laugh after what we just went through last night. You both sounded like the type of people that liked to be close to one another and become real shy about it for when your friends ask you about what you did. Please forgive me."

There was a rather long silence for when he heard those words come out of the little rich girl's mouth. Soon, all of the anger and hatred that he once had for the creature named Nightmare Parasite was soon forgotten for when he turned to see the sad and ashamed expression that's on Yai's innocent-looking face. Miguel then began to put a gentle smile on his face while at the same time speaking to the little girl with a gentle tone in his voice, "It's okay, Yai. You didn't know that this sort of thing might happen. The guys were only trying to be good friends by telling you all about what they've been through and how both me and Sylphiel were able to help them for when they were in trouble in my world. You did nothing wrong."

"So, does this mean that we're cool with the whole thing?" he heard Yai saying to him with a sort of meek tone as he noticed that she was awaiting his answer.

"Well, not quite," Miguel answered to the little girl with a sort of serious tone in his voice as he looked at her with a stern expression on his face. "First of all, you have to hand over those pictures that you've had Glyde take of both me and Sylphiel. I don't want the rest of your friends to get the wrong idea about what those pictures show."

The teen heard a defeated and disappointed sigh that came from Yai before he saw her handing out the three photos towards his direction before taking them and placed them on his outstretched hand just as she said, "Oh, fine. But that still doesn't change the fact that both you and Sylphiel make a cute couple in them. Even your animal friends would know that."

Before he could have the chance to respond to the little rich girl's comment as he pocketed the pictures behind his own back pants pocket, Miguel turned to find Vector, Espio, and Mighty, grinning at him with sly expressions on their faces just as he said to them said while starting to develope a red shade color on his face, "Uh guys, just what in the world are you looking at?"

"It seems to me that you have a little more in your mind about Sylphiel than what you want the rest of us to know, homey," the green crocodile said to him while keeping his sly grin aimed at his direction.

"I'm sorry to have to say this, Miguel, but I think that for once Vec might have a point," he heard Mighty saying to him just as he turned and saw the armadillo staring at him with the same playful sly expression as Vector's. "I mean, everyone could see the expressions on both of your faces for when both you and Sylphiel looked at one another."

"I'm with Might on this one too," he heard Espio saying to him while at the same time hearing him using the same tone as his two friends. "I mean, from the way that the two of you just greeted each other and blushed a while ago, it seems that the two of you slept with one another or something."

Those words that he heard the purple chameleon saying to him caused him to blush profusely for when they reached his ears. Just before he could have the chance to deny anything about what the purple chameleon said, Miguel's nose suddenly picked up the delicious scent of food for when he heard the voice of Sylphiel saying with a cheerful tone in her voice, "Hello, everyone! Breakfast is ready to be served! I do hope that you all like it."

As he turned towards the shrine maiden's direction, the older teen soon saw that both she along with Charmy who were both carrying trays filled with large amounts of food on them. The food that were on the trays were what he expected from Sylphiel. One was filled with a bunch of hash browns along with a pile of toast. On one of the other plates, he noticed that it was filled with strips of bacon while another one contained piles of well-cooked scrambled eggs. He then turned his attention towards the young bee Mobian and saw that he was carrying two huge glass pitchers filled with both milk and orange juice in each one.

As soon as he saw the two of them placing the contents they were holding onto the large table, Miguel started stand up from where he was and said rather frantically as he began to leave the room, "Oh, I just noticed that the two of you didn't bring any spare dishes and glasses for anyone to serve their own food with. Do you mind if I go back into the kitchen to get them for you while both you and Charmy get the food ready on the table?"

"Of course that you can, Miguel," he heard Sylphiel responding to his request with a eager tone in her voice just as he headed towards the entrance of the kitchen. "Just be sure that you bring the pancakes that I've stacked near the stove along with the sausages while you're bringing the dishes and glasses."

"Okay!" was the teen's response for when he entered the kitchen of the treehouse and began to see what he was going for.

What he saw near the stove that the shrine maiden was using was a huge stack of pancakes that looked well-cooked and ready to eat placed on a flat and clean plate. What he also saw was a plate that's filled with sausages that looked good enough to eat for himself. But he soon turned his attention towards the task at hand as he began to grab as many clean plates and glasses as best as he could.

_"Now what the hell was that all about?" _Miguel thought to himself just as he paused for a moment in order to properly digest the info that he just heard from the three Mobians as well as from Yai while trying his best to balance what he could carry in his arms. _"Since when has my love life become everyone's business all of a sudden? I mean, sure that both me and Sylphiel have started to become rather attached to each other since the day we met, but that means nothing. _

_"Besides, what would she see in a guy like me anyway? I mean, it's not that I'm worried that she's a bit older than me by a few years or the fact that she's an anime character. It's just that, what would a beautiful and gentle girl like her see in a guy like me? I'm not the kind of guy that's really bold or handsome as Gourry was. Of course, I've never had a date with a girl before let alone one from an anime. (Sighs) This is so damn confusing. I don't know how I should be feeling towards Sylphiel for when..." _

The teen's thoughts were soon cut short for when he heard the voice of Yai saying to him with a sort of curious and impatient tone in her voice while catching him by surprise, "Hey, Miguel! What's taking you so long to get all the extra plates and glasses for your friends? Sylphiel was beginning to worry about you for when you didn't show up fast enough to bring them. Is something the matter with you or what?"

That was when he soon turned his full attention toward the little girl and looked at her direction while trying to put on a friendly smile on his face as he spoke to her while faltering a bit, "N-Nothing is wrong with me, Yai. I-It's just that I've been thinking about a few things that I've had in my mind lately."

"This wouldn't have anything to do with both you and Sylphiel snuggling with one another like a cute couple last night would it, Miguel?" he heard Yai saying to him with a sort of mischievous and playful grin on her face.

That was when he chose to answer the little girl's question by saying to her with a rather busy sounding voice while at the same time trying to avoid the subject, "Don't you think that we should be getting these plates and glasses to the others by now? I'm sure that they're becoming impatient about waiting for breakfast."

"Whatever you say, Miguel," he heard Yai responding to his words with a sly tone just as he started to take whatever glasses and plates that he could carry toward the dining room.

_"Boy, first the Chaotix are trying to get in on my business about my love life and now a little anime girl is going it," _he thought to himself just as he approached the dining room. _"What else could go wrong besides the fact that I'm already in the middle of an interrogation about how I feel about Sylphiel?" _

Just as soon as he reached the table, Miguel heard the voice of Vector saying to him with a mock tone of impatience, "Hey, Miguel, what took you so long? Is there something bothering you or what, man?"

"Vector, that isn't a very nice thing to say to people," he heard Sylphiel saying to the green crocodile while at the same time sounding amused with what the Mobians was trying to do just before the teen turned towards her direction and saw her smiling towards his direction. "Thank you for bring the glasses and plates, Miguel. What happened to the pancakes and sausage that were in the kitchen?"

Miguel soon found himself beginning to chuckle sheepishly for when he heard those words. Just as he was about to answer her question, the teen soon heard a response coming from the kitchen that he just came out of for as the voice of Yai answered for him as he turned and saw the rich girl holding out the plates containing the pancakes and sausages, "Here they are, Miss Sylphiel! I'm sure that the rest of you must be starving for a taste of what she's cooked for all of you, am I right?"

"You bet that big shining forehead of yours that we did!" Miguel heard the voice of Mighty saying to the little girl while at the same time feeling a bit embarrassed about what he just said. "Sorry about that, Yai. It's just that whenever I get hungry, I always seem to blurt out the wrong thing to say at the wrong time."

"Well, I guess that I could forgive you this time, Mighty," he heard the voice of Yai saying to the armadillo just as he saw her placing the plate filled with sausages on the table along with the plate that stacked with pancakes. "This is about the only time that I've ever had to help out someone around the kitchen. In any case, once all of you are finished with your breakfast, I'm sure that all of you would want to start the search for that last piece of that Chaos Emerald that you've been searching for."

"She's right about that, guys," he heard Espio saying to everyone while at the same time trying to place food on his plate. "I mean, I'm surprised that no one was able to harness the full powers of that single emerald shard since we've arrived to this world yesterday."

"Well, we could all start searching for it in the middle of downtown once all of you are finished eating," he heard Yai responding to everyone while turning towards her direction and saw her grinning as her forehead shined like a bowling ball. "But first, we need to get Miss Sylphiel something nice to wear on her tour of the city. A lady of her figure needs something nice to wear other than those rags that she's been wearing. Plus it'll raise some suspicion about where she really came from. I'll get one of my maids to have them cleaned up once we pick out the perfect outfit for her to wear."

"Yo! Don't forget all about us, Yai Girl!" Miguel suddenly heard the voice of Vector saying to the little girl just as he turned to see the the Mobian giving out a cheerful grin just as he noticed him trying his best to swallow the food that's in his mouth. "(Gulps) Now, as for us trying to blend in with the crowd, all we have to do is just act like regular people in costumes and we'll be alright."

"Well, I have to agree with Vector on this one," he heard Espio saying with a serious tone while at the same time finishing the food in his mouth as he he saw the purple chameleon wiping his mouth with a napkin. "I mean, both me and Charmy were able to pose as humans in costumes for when the two of us were at Lan's house and Mrs. Hikari didn't seem to notice."

"Well, I don't see what's wrong with that as well," Mighty responded to his friends' words with a cheerful tone just before he saw the armadillo finishing the food in his mouth and gave out a soft burp before wiping his own mouth with a napkin of his own. "I mean, this world is starting to get interesting from what we heard about from Glyde last night for when he helped us operate this treehouse's computer terminal. I mean, I just want to see what else this city has to offer."

"Well, what are we doing here just yakkin' then?" he heard Charmy shouting out with excitement just as Miguel turned to see the young bee along with his friends starting to pig out on the food that's right in front of them.

"Please, everyone, there's suppose to be enough food for both me and Miguel too you know," Sylphiel said to everyone with a mock upset tone just as Miguel turned and saw the shrine maiden having a playful smile on her face just as well as a red blush as he also noticed her starting to pass out an empty plate and a glass towards his direction. "I think the two of us better get started before the Chaotix eat the entire thing."

The teen chuckled a bit just before he and Sylphiel began to take off food for their own plates. When he finally got his breakfast together, Miguel was about to eat a small portion of his food for when he heard the young voice of Yai saying to him with a playful tone of her own, "Well, I'll be at my house taking my bath if you all need anything. I'll just get Glyde to keep you guys company for after he's done with his daily rounds. I'll see you all later!"

As soon as he saw the little girl leaving through the treehouse's front door, the teen soon turned his attention back towards his meal and began to eat. Just as he held out a piece of bacon in his hand, Miguel began to have a thought in his mind that just never occurred to him until now. _"I wonder how Sonic and the others are doing right now?" _the teen thought to himself just as he stuffed the meat into his mouth.

Just as Tails was doing his best to locate either Miguel or Sylphiel from wherever they might be, Sonic suddenly came into the room at a great speed for as he went up towards his best friend and spoke to him with a concerned and serious tone, "How's the search for both Miguel and Sylphiel doin', little buddy?"

"I'm afraid that it's not doing so well, Sonic," the two-tailed fox answered his blue friend just as he continued to type at his workshop's main computer furiously. "I'm trying my best to locate the energy signature's of their Chaos Energy from their own worlds, but so far I'm having no such luck."

"Just keep trying to find either of those two, Tails," Knuckles said to the young fox just as he leaned against the wall and tried to keep himself calm. "I'm afraid that those two aren't the only ones that are missing. I went over to the Chaotix's place in order to ask for them to watch over the Master Emerald and I've found their place abandoned. I've also sensed a small but potent amount of Chaos Energy surrounding their office which means that something big has happened. That was when I went to you guys so that you could contact both Miguel and Sylphiel in order for all of us to look for the Chaotix together. But after hearing that Tails couldn't reach Miguel through that computer that he gave him or find an energy signal from Sylphiel's jewel pendent, something terrible must've happened to the two of them as well as with the Chaotix."

"I wouldn't worry about them for a minute, guys," Shadow spoke to them while at the same time watching the progress that the fox genius was making on his computer terminal with a calm tone. "Both Miguel and Sylphiel are probably trying to have some privacy in order to spend more time with one another. As for the Chaotix, I'm sure that wherever they are, they're someplace safe along with those two love birds."

As soon as the black hedgehog said those words, a sudden and long silence began to envelope the room that the four Mobians are in. Before the Ultimate Life Form could have the chance to break the long silence by asking what was going on, he soon found the eyes of Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails looking at him as if he were an alien being from another planet. Shadow soon found himself starting to become startled as well as a bit frightened for as his three friends continued to stare at him.

"Guys, why are you staring at me like that?" the black hedgehog asked with a nervous tone in his voice just before he backed away from his three friends who still wore blank looks on each of their faces. That was when he saw Sonic's expression changing into a mischievous grin just as before he spoke.

"Shadow, are you feelin' alright?" Sonic asked his near-identical twin with a playful tone. "Were you just trying to help us calm down by talking positive? For that matter, since when have you become interested in both Miguel and Sylphiel's or anyone's relationship?"

"I may not agree with Sonic, but I think that he might be onto something there," Knuckles said to Shadow as the blank expression on the red echidna's face turned calm. "I mean, from the last few months that we've last seen each other, you've been acting kinda different lately. I mean, at one time, Tails once saw you looking at the moon while having what he says to be a real smile on your face."

With those words said by the guardian of Angel Island, the Ultimate Life Form soon found himself turning towards Tails with a shocked and embarassed expression on his face just as he spoke to the young genius with a rather miffed tone, "Tails! Since when have you saw me like that? How was it that you were able to see my face with...?"

Before the black hedgehog could have the chance to complete the rest of his question, the main computer suddenly started to beeping slowly but weakly as it sounded like a submarine radar. The four Mobians soon forgot about Shadow's own personal life and turned their full attention towards the computer screen in order to see what was going on. Tails began to rapidly type on the keyboard of his computer and put in the proper code to search for the precise location of the source that's causing its sensors to go off. That was when his eyes began to grow wide with shock just before he began to speak.

"We'll all worry about Shadow's personality later, guys. Right now, we have other problems," the young fox said to his three comrades just as he kept his eyes glued to the computer screen. "The computer has just found the energy signature of Chaos Emerald shard that's in Sylphiel's jewel pendant. However, I could only find a weak signal coming from it. It could be because of the world that she's in. Wherever she is, the natural defenses of that world is keeping some of her own Chaos Energy from ever being sensed. But that's not the only thing, Miguel is with her too. His body's own Chaos Energy is a bit stronger than Sylphiel's, but it's not strong enough to determine an exact location."

"So just tryin' to create a portal to the world that both Miguel and Sylphiel are in is simply out of the question," Sonic responded to the fox's words just as he began to think about what he just heard. "Even if all of us were to use a Chaos Emerald or more in order to use the Chaos Control, we wouldn't know where we might end up. Perhaps maybe in another time of our world. And even if we did get to place that we want to go, the risk of having the Chaos Emeralds falling into the wrong hands is just too great."

"What about the Chaotix? For all we know, those guys could've either ended up in Miguel's world or somewhere else," Knuckles added to the blue hedgehog's words with a hint of worry in his voice. "If either Sonic or Shadow couldn't use the power of Chaos Control to get to them, then what are we going to do if...?"

Just before the red echidna could have the chance to finish the rest of his sentence, an alarm within Tails's workshop began to go off like wild bullhorn. The two-tailed fox soon began to type at his computer's keyboard very rapidly and turned his full attention towards one of the other computer monitors near his main screen. Just as soon as everyone turned their full attentions towards the smaller monitor near the main one, what they saw was Dr. Eggman Robotnik in his latest creation doing one of his usual rampages. Sonic was the first to make his comment about the new situation that just appeared before them.

"Well, this is just great! First we've got our friends that could be scattered towards different worlds," the blue hedgehog said just as he stared at the screen with Robotnik's image. "Now we've got Robuttnik here stirring up his usual trouble! Now how are we going to deal with two problems?"

There was a moment of silence as everyone in the room began to think of a situation to the problem. That was when Shadow started to speak with a serious tone, "I think that the three of you should just stay in this world to deal with Eggman while I go to the world that both Miguel and Sylphiel are in. Once I've located those two, I should be able to find the Chaotix with their help as well. I have a better chance of finding those two since I'm more experienced on how to use and control the Chaos Control. Plus, I have a power source that's much more powerful than a Chaos Emerald by itself or perhaps even seven combined."

"And just what exactly is this power source that you've planned on using in order to get to where Miguel and Sylphiel as well as the Chaotix?" Knuckles asked the black hedgehog with a curious and suspicious tone in his voice as he cocked his eyebrow towards his direction.

The Ultimate Life Form soon found himself reaching into the holding compartment of his shoes and pulling out the green gemstone that he had recieved in his adventures a while back for when he was in Miguel's world. A gemstone that he along with a girl named Mana received for while they were fighting a powerful monster. As soon as he showed the powerful gemstone to his three friends, Shadow saw their each of their faces filled with both shock and surprise. Shadow grinned for when he saw the expressions on each of their faces just before he heard Sonic speaking to him.

"Shadow, just when in the world did you get this sort of stone and who gave it to you?" the blue hedgehog asked his twin counterpart with a curious tone in his voice.

"Well to be rather honest, Sonic, I have no clue on who exactly gave it to me," the black hedgehog responded with a rare sheepish tone in his voice. "All that I could tell you that mystic beings from another realm just offered their help to me in order to fight a powerful monster that came to Miguel's world a while back."

"Well whatever it is, I'd suggest that you get to that world as soon as possible, Shadow," Tails responded to the Ultimate Life Form with a serious tone in his young voice just as everyone turned towards the fox's direction and saw his face back towards the main monitor. "I've just picked up the energy signature of a Chaos Emerald just now. Not only that, but from what I could gather with this radar, it seems that there are two in that world. Only one of them is emitting a weaker energy signature than the other."

"If that's the case, then we've got to act now and quickly," Knuckles said to everyone in the room while at the same time starting to head towards the exit of the workshop. "I'm going back to Angel Island to continue my duties of guarding the Master Emerald. I'm not going to take any chances if Robotnik is planning to launch an attack."

"Then I guess that both me and Tails should get going too," Sonic responded to the red echidna's words as he turned towards Tails's direction. "The two of us could handle Eggman just fine on our own. Not to mention the fact that the X Tornado should pack the fire power necessary to do the job. Wouldn't ya agree, Tails?"

"Well, I'm up to teaching Eggman a lesson again like Sonic is," the two-tailed fox said to everyone with an enthusiastic tone just as he got up from the chair near his computer and began to head towards his workshop's lab table where he usually works on his projects and began rummaging through its drawers. "However, I'm more concerned on what Shadow's going to do once he reaches that world that Miguel and Sylphiel are in. Which is why I'm going to give him one of my latest inventions that I was going to give to Miguel in case another portal appears in his world."

As soon as the young fox genius was finished with searching through the contents of his work desk, he then turned towards Shadow's direction and presented him with a flat device that also possesses a keyboard on it. Just before the black hedgehog could ask about the device that he just received, Tails said to him with a rather confident smile on his face, "I wouldn't worry about how the device works, Shadow. Once you find Miguel, he should be able to easily activate it and get it to work without any problems. Just go to that world and find those two before something terrible happens."

"As soon as you do find them, then the three of you could search for the Chaotix," Knuckles added to the young fox's words just before he opened the door. "If they're out in another world like the last time that they've been to Miguel's world, then we could have a real problem on our hands."

With those words said and done, the red echidna left the room while only leaving Sonic, Tails, and Shadow to remain. Before the black hedgehog could have the chance to say anything, Sonic was running outside towards the exit of the door and Tails was heading towards his workshop's launching pad. Before he knew what was happening, Shadow the Hedgehog found himself completely alone in the workshop all by himself with nothing in his mind but the mission at hand.

_"I guess that I should get started then," _the Ultimate Life Form thought to himself just as he looked at the green gemstone that he still possessed in his hands. _"Now, all I have to do is just focus on Miguel's own Chaos Energy and I should be able to transport to where both he and Sylphiel are. Since he emits the strongest amounts of Chaos Energy than either of us, I should have a better lock on his whereabouts. With any luck, the three of us should be able to find the Chaotix as well as the Chaos Emeralds. I just hope that the energy within this stone is powerful enough to send me where both Miguel and Sylphiel are. Well, here's goes nothing."_

With those thoughts said and done, the Ultimate Life Form began to grip onto the stone in his hands very tightly and concentrated on what he was supposed to find and where he needed to go. At first, finding the human's unusually high Chaos Energy was proving to be a bit more difficult than he had hoped. But after what feels like about hours of trying, Shadow was finally able to get a lock on where Miguel's Chaos Energy could be. With the help from the green gemstone in his hands, the black hedgehog was finally able to get a lock on what world that his human friend was in.

_"I just hope that it's in a place where the natives are friendly," _Shadow thought just before he concentrated even hard than before and began to shout out, "Chaos Control!"

Before he knew what was happening, the black hedgehog soon found himself being enveloped in a blanket of emerald-green light just as he traveled towards his destination as he kept his concentration in check.

**End of Part 7**


	8. Chapter 8

**Note to readers:** I would like to say that I'm sorry that running late with putting up this new chapter to this fic. I mean, it's just that I was a bit too busy with trying to deal with my own problems as well as getting ready for my classes in college. In any case, I would like to let all of you know that I won't be able to get as much time as I want on this fic as I planned to do and it might take a bit longer to deliver a new chapter for this fic. Well, I would like to thank everyone who has been supportive and giving me good reviews for this fic. I would like to thank the group **Generation-A** for their continued support. I would also like to say to **Anime Master Zero** to keep up the good work. Well, that's all that I have to say to for this month. I hope that you enjoy this next chapter. Later and I hope to get good and honest reviews!

**Part 8**

Just as she was playing with her cute little mult-colored friends that are called the five Kuribo Brothers, Mana felt something within her body that she never thought that she would feel again. The energy that she had felt for when she first met the love of her life: Shadow the Hedgehog.

_"(Gasp!) This energy that I'm feeling...it's coming from Shadow!" _she thought to herself just as she reached into her pocket and took out a emerald-green gemstone and looked at it with a worried look on her face as she saw it glowing with a intense light. _"He must've used that space warping technique along with the power of the green gemstone of his in order to get to another world...wherever that might be. The energy that I'm picking up from him is so weak that I could barely sense him from where I am now." _

Just before she could have the chance to think more about what she just felt, the young magician girl soon found herself being surrounded by the five Kuribo Brothers as the mult-colored furry creatures that looked at her with worried looks on their eyes. That was when she began to look at her cute little companions with a reassuring smile on her face while saying to them, "I'm sorry, my little friends, but I have to go. You see, my good and dear friend Shadow might be in trouble and I have to go see if he's alright. But I promise that once I come back, I'll play with all of you as much as you want."

That was when Mana heard all five of the Kuribo Brothers beginning to chitter a bit in disappointment at first. But soon they began give out hopeful and happy expressions on their furry faces just as she went over to the cute little group and planted a kiss on each of them. As soon as she was finished, the female magician began to say to each of them, "Consider those kisses promises to each of you that I would make it back home safely, alright?"

In response to her words, Mana soon found herself being tackled and snuggled by the group of furry creatures just before she tried to free herself from their grasps. As soon as she finally got herself freed from her furry friends' grasp, the female magician then waved her hand to them a goodbye gesture just as she walked away towards an open clearing that doesn't have a single trace of any form of life on it.

_"It's good that there are no innocent creatures around here or otherwise I'd never forgive myself if anything were to happen to them while I travel to the place where Shadow is," _Mana thought to herself just as she looked at her hand with the green gemstone still within her palm. _"If I could just get this right, I should be able to teleport to wherever that Shadow is going to. Wherever it is I hope that the place is friendly." _

With those thoughts done in her mind, the young female closed her eyes and then began to concentrate on where she wanted to go. At first, finding the source of where her love's own great energy proved to be a bit more difficult than she thought it would be. However, after what appears to be hours of searching for the energy source of Shadow's own green gemstone, Mana was finally able to find the a small speck of what she was looking for.

_"Though it's strange that Shadow's power is too weak for me to pick up," _the female magician thought to herself just as continued to hold onto her concentration on the energy source that she picked. _"But despite it being very weak, it's definitely Shadow's. There's no mistaking it. I'm sure that I would be able to get to where my darling Shadow is with the help of this mystic green gemstone. I just hope that it would have enough power to get me there. Well, here goes nothing." _

With those thoughts done in her mind, Mana closed both of her eyes and began to concentrate her mind on the task at hand. As she did so, the female magician began to feel the immense power of the green gemstone flowing within her body just as she felt herself being lifted off of the ground. _"Shadow, please be safe for when I get there," _she thought to herself just as she soon found herself traveling within a bright tunnel of emerald green light that would take her towards her destination.

Just as he awaited patiently within Net City to find or receive an energy signal coming from the young human named Miguel, Bass suddenly shot both his eyes wide open and scanned his surroundings in order to see what he just sensed.

_"Those strong energy readings! They've just appeared from out of nowhere!" _the Black Shadow thought to himself just as he settled down for the moment but continued to search throughout the skies of Net City. _"Whatever they are, they're emitting a very powerful energy that's almost as great and similiar as that human's. They've must've just barely entered into this world by the same means as he did. This could be a big thorn in my plans. _

_"They could be here to get that powerful source of energy that I've felt from within that human's, Miguel, body. Wherever world they might be from, I'll be sure that they won't get in the way. I'll search throughout the entire network and find out what they are and why they are doing here in this world. They are both unaware that I can track down where they are by just following their energy trail. I'll be sure that those two won't get in the way of conquering this world. I swear it." _

With those thoughts done in his mind, Bass soon entered a link that he created and began scanned the entire network in order to find the whereabouts of the energy sources. As soon as he picked up on where they might be, the cloaked Navi opened up another random link and flew towards where the creatures might originate from.

Just as he saw his tomahawk landing on the hard cement of the abandoned beach grounds, Dingo smiled for when he saw the direction that his weapon's handle was facing. Just as he began to walk towards the direction where his tomahawk was pointing, his Net Navi, TomahawkMan sighed with annoyance just as he saw his NetOp starting to go into the direction where his tomahawk pointed him to go.

"Dingo...is it really necessary to do that everytime that you have a delivery to carry out?" the Indian type Net Navi asked his friend. "This isn't really doing any good for you as a curry delivery boy."

"Trust me, TomahawkMan. I know what I'm doing," Dingo responded to his Navi friend with a confident tone just as he continued to walk towards the direction that his tomahawk had pointed to. "It's not that we're going to be late again this time. Everything would turn out alright for once we get there."

"(Sighs) That's what you said that last time that you've made a delivery," TomahawkMan responded to his NetOp with a sigh of annoyance. "With that, we've ended up going to the other side of the city. Just what are you going to say to Yahoot or any of the others for when they find out that you've made another late delivery...again?"

"Well, we'll just tell them that we've just got lost our map and couldn't find our way around the area," the young boy said to his Navi with a confident tone in his voice just as he gave out a cheerful smile on his face.

"Dingo..." the indian Net Navi spoke out with a defeated sigh just as he saw his NetOp continued along his way.

However, just before either of them could realize what was happening, a sudden burst of emerald-green light appeared out of nowhere and shined throughout the entire area that Dingo was in. There was also a wind that blew so strongly that it almost made him feel like he was in a wind storm during Fall. After what seemed to be like an hour, the light soon began to fade out of sight while leaving the boy a bit dizzy from the blindness that he suffered through intenseness of the light that he just saw. As he tried his best to regain his eyesight, the Indian boy did his best to regain the full use of his sight by rubbing onto his both his eyes.

_"Man! What in the world was that!" _Dingo thought to himself just as he continued to rub onto his eyes and then blink them together in order to get them focused properly. _"What's with this light show that just suddenly came out of nowhere and nearly caused me to go blind? It was nearly strong enough to light up the whole city if it got the chance!" _

Just as soon as the boy was finally able to regain full use of his eyesight, he began to hear the voice of his Navi shouting out towards him while at the same time sounding a bit distorted that's filled with static while also sounding worried, "D...Di...Dingo! Are you alright! There was this sudden burst of bright green light that appeared out of nowhere that caused some sort of powerful magnetic field that disrupted the link in the P.E.T.! Even with the P.E.T.'s own advanced upgrades weren't able to block it. Do you saw what was the cause of it?"

"I couldn't get a good at what caused that light show for while it was blinding me, TomahawkMan," Dingo responded to his Navi while at the same time regaining some of his own eyesight back from the bright experience that he encountered. "I couldn't get a good look at what caused that huge amount of light. Not to mention the fact that it almost felt like a hurricane just flew by!"

Just before TomahawkMan could have the chance to reply to his NetOp's words, the sound of someone groaning in pain suddenly came out of nowhere. Just as soon as the Indian boy began to fully regain his eyesight, he turned towards the direction where he heard the sound coming from and began to speak. "Hey, are you alright?" Dingo said to the unseen person just as he turned towards his direction. "If there's anything that I could do for you, then...I...would..."

That was when his speech began to falter a bit for when his eyes landed on the sight before him. What the Indian boy was seeing was a creature that had jet black fur with spikes that are jagged and sharp-looking. They were also colored with both the colors of black mixed with red streaks on them. Not only that, but he could've swear the creature looked almost human with its arms, hands, and feet looking like that of a human being. But he also noticed that the face of the creature in front of him looked like an animal with a sort of menacing edge to it.

What surprised Dingo the most is that the creature that he was looking at also possessed what appeared to be shoes of some kind. He also to noticed that on the strange creature's wrists and ankles were golden rings attached to them as if they were great accessories. For a moment, he could've sworn that they glowed with a sort of eerie light that make them more than just bracelets. From the way that he saw the human-like being lying on the ground, the Indian boy could tell that it was lying unconscious from wherever it came from.

"Hello! Earth to Dingo! Are you listening to me!" he suddenly starting to notice the voice of his Net Navi trying to get his attention with a tone of sarcasism mixed in with annoyance. "Man, just what in the world's gotten into you! I mean, didn't you listen to me for when I told you about all about that magnetic disturbance that just...?"

Just as soon as Dingo brought the screen of his P.E.T. towards the strange creature's direction, he heard TomahawkMan's voice beginning to cease for a moment just before speaking again. "Dingo! Just what in the world is that thing!" the Indian type shouted out with a now surprised and shocked tone. "Is this an alien from another planet or just some guy in a strange costume for some new store!"

"I don't know about this thing as much as you do, TomahawkMan!" the young boy said to his Navi while at the same time continuing to stare at the unconscious strange black creature. "But whatever it is, it appears to be unconscious! Perhaps it's just some kid in a strange porcupine costume that's trying to pull off some prank on me! Yeah, that's probably it! I guess that I could just play along and...!"

Before he could have the chance to finish the rest of his sentence, Dingo's words were suddenly cut short for when another flash of green light began to engulf the entire area within its brilliance. However, unlike the first one that he'd experienced, the one that appeared right in front of him now wasn't as bright and only lasted for a few seconds just before disappearing from sight. As soon as he was able to blink both of his eyes to regain his full sight again, the young Indian boy heard the voice of TomahawkMan saying to him with a sorted discorded voice before returning to normal, "D...Di...Dingo! There it was again! It's that same magnetic field that just disrupted the P.E.T.s internal systems! Only this one just isn't as powerful as the first one. But the strange thing is that no internal damage or any data was lost or corrupted for when they both occurred. What in the world caused this second one!"

"I'm not too sure about it myself!" Dingo responded to his Navi with a confused tone just as he was finally able to get his full eyesight back. "Whatever is causing this sort of thing to happen is going to be sorry for when they find out that they've messed with the wrong guy to pick on!"

"Dingo..." was all that TomahawkMan could say before the young boy started to grip onto his tomahawk's handle and turned to what caused the second phenomenon to appear.

As soon as he faced the direction to where the green light, Dingo suddenly dropped his weapon for when he saw something that he didn't expect to see. What the Indian boy saw was the most prettiest girl that he'd ever seen since his adventures with Lan. She was dressed in a sort of odd-looking costume that looked to be that of a magician's. Only the style was made to accommodate for her cute figure and it was also colored with blue, gold, and pink mixed into it along with a pink skirt. A overly large but pointed hat that possessed the same colors as her outfit is on top of her very head while at the same time covering some of the long blonde hair that went to her shoulders. As he turned his attention towards the pretty girl's face, Dingo could tell by looking at it that she was beautiful. Even the shimmer from her emerald-green eyes makes her look like a movie star of sorts.

Just as he was blushing at the sight before him, the Indian boy began to hear the voice of his Navi shouting out towards him while sounding a bit annoyed for having been ignored for so long, "Dingo! What in the world is going on with you! I mean, you look as though you're seeing the face of a pretty girl. With the way that your face was turning red, you look as though you're seeing both Princess Pride and Maddy in their bathsuits."

Before he could give TomahawkMan a piece of his own mind, all of the embarrassment that the young boy felt was soon forgotten for when he heard a young female voice beginning to shout out, "Shadow! Oh my goodness, are you alright! Don't worry I'm here for you now and I'm not planning on letting go!"

That was when Dingo soon realized that the voice that he heard was coming from the young female magician girl that appeared before him just as he saw her running towards the strange black creature with a worried and horrified look on her face while not noticing his existence at all. The young boy was shocked for when he saw her picking up the mysterious creature with her arms and suddenly began to embrace him tightly as if it were someone very close to her. Not only that, but he also saw the strange girl doing what he never expected her to do: kiss him passionly on the forehead with her lips as if the thing were a boyfriend or a true love.

_"No way! A pretty girl like her falling in love with a strange black porcupine like that!" _Dingo thought to himself just as he continued to stare at the scene with disblief while at the same time picking up his tomahawk. _"I mean, this is perhaps the most weirdest thing that I've ever seen since seeing Net Navis appearing in the real world!" _

"Hey, Dingo! Are you even listening to me!" Dingo soon turned his attention away from the scene and looked at the screen of his P.E.T. after finally realizing that TomahawkMan was becoming rather annoyed for when he was ignored again. "Man, what's with this silent treatment that you've been giving me? Don't you realize that I've been trying to get your full attention for the past few moments trying to get you to notice me for when...!"

That was when the Indian type Navi's words were soon cut short for when his NetOp began to turn the screen of the P.E.T. towards the scene and faced it towards the direction where both the girl and the black creature are. TomahawkMan soon found his eyes bulging with surprise at what he just saw. "D-Dingo! Is my memory data being corrupted or am I seeing a pretty girl in a magician's costume hugging that strange black creature in her arms?" the Indian type Navi asked his friend with a shocked and astonished tone as he kept his full attention towards the scene. "If that's what I'm really seeing, then it's no wonder why you were blushing a moment ago."

Just before he could have the chance to give respond to the Navi's smart aleck words, Dingo heard a male voice groaning as if he were in pain. That was when he soon realized that the sound was coming from the black creature that was still within the magician girl's arms. While seeing the strange creature beginning to come out of his unconscious state, the Indian boy said to the two of them in a nervous tone while at the same time not knowing that he was still holding the handle of his weapon in his hand, "H-H-Hey, are the two of you a-a-a-alright? Is t-t-there anything that w-w-we could do for yo...?"

Dingo's words were soon cut short for when he saw the black spiked creature starting to open its eyes slowly just to get a good glimpse of the crimson irises that are shocked to be looking up at the girl that was holding him in her arms. From the way that he saw the life form that was called Shadow looking all around the area, it appears as though it was still not fully conscious enough to see very well. But despite the shape that it was in, the Shadow creature suddenly started to release himself from the young girl's embrace and raised both of his arms in the air just as he shouted out, "Get away from us, assassin! I won't all you to take my love away from me again! Chaos Spear!"

Before he could tell exactly what was happening or have the chance to explain to either of them about the tomahawk in his hand, the Indian boy soon found himself looking to what appears to be like a dozen golden spheres of light surrounding the creature's entire being. That was when he also saw the spheres of golden light transforming into sharp looking spears of energy pointed right towards his direction. Dingo's inner instincts soon took over and began to run for when he realized that the black creature intended to fire them towards his direction in order to rid him of his existence.

Just as he began to ran for his dear life, the young boy felt the impact of numerous but loud explosions that were caused by the energy spears for when they collided with the ground. While forgetting all about the delivery that he was suppose to make in order to survive, Dingo heard the voice of his Net Navi shouting out to him, "Oy, Dingo! What in the world is happening out there! I remember hearing you trying to talk to those strange beings and next thing that I could figure out is that black psycho of an animal is trying to kill us! I told you that throwing that tomahawk of yours like that to get where you needed to go would get you in trouble again!"

"Well, usually the sort of stuff that happens to us usually involve the two of us Cross-Fuse in a dimensional area while fighting Asteroid Navis!" Dingo shouted in response to his Navi friend's words while at the same time still trying to evade the swam of energy spears that came at his way before he noticed that they've finally ceased. "Looks to me that the strange guy has finally stopped his attack but I'm not sticking around to find out why!"

"This is the first sign of rational thinking that you've showned since ever, Dingo!" TomahawkMan said to his NetOp's words with the same terrified tone just has the young boy began to run towards the safety of the building called Number One Curry. "What are we going to tell Yahoot for when he hears about this!"

_"This is just not my day today!" _Dingo thought to himself just as he continued run back towards the restaurant where he worked while at the same time feeling his lungs taking the pressure of the unexpected jog. _"First I encounter both that strange creature named Shadow along with a beautiful girl. Now, I'm being attacked by that black thing as if he were an Asteriod Navi! Yahoot would never believe me for when he sees that I've missed my delivery again! Just what else in this world could happen now!" _

Sylphiel continued to stare through the window in awe as she along with Yai, Maylu, Miguel, and the Chaotix were in the huge luxurious vehicle of Yai's that's called a limousine or limo for short. Never had she before experienced the kind of transportation that wealthy people from this world traveled in. From what she could gather by looking on the inside, the shrine maiden was able to see that back seat of the vehicle was much larger than what it needed it to be. From what she could see, the compartment that she and her friends were in was made to be like a second home or room instead.

_"They even have an mini refrigerator along with small television set along with a sink of some sorts," _Sylphiel thought to herself just as her eyes continued to stare out the window while taking in the view of the city that's their passing through. _"The city that I'm looking at right now is just marvelous! It's almost as big as the one Miguel lives in. Only, that this city is a bit more advanced than the one he lives in. I wonder which place is Miss Yai is planning on taking me to get those new cloths that she was talking about?" _

The shrine maiden began to blush for the thought of being in another set of beautiful cloths crossed her mind. As if to respond to her question in her thoughts, Sylphiel soon noticed that the vehicle that she and her friends were in began to stop. Before she could have the chance to ask where they are, the young woman heard the voice of Vector saying to the young wealthy girl, "Yo, why are we stoppin' for? This ride here was just getting interesting."

"Well, it just so happens that we were in the middle of DenTech City's shopping district, Mr. Vector," the shrine maiden heard the voice of the polite sentient program named Glyde responding to the crocodile's question in a polite manner like a butler would. "It's the perfect place for people to socialize as well as check out the latest in electronic appliances, clothes, fashions, etc. There's also an arcade and a food court for some of the younger residents to gather and play in as well as eat and socialize. Most of them are far more into Netbattles than anything else in this entire city or even the world."

"Well, that sounds pretty tight, man!" Sylphiel heard Charmy saying to the Navi as she turned to see the young bee continuing to see through the window along with the rest of the Chaotix. "From the way that we've seen this city so far, I'm sure that there's plenty of stuff to do while we search for the last piece of the Chaos Emerald."

"Let's not forget to just blend in with the crowd, Charms," she heard Espio saying to his friend with a serious tone while at the same time letting out a sigh. "As long as we all keep from using our powers and abilities in front of these people, then we'll all be just fine."

"Just be sure to stay focused on the task at hand, you guys," she heard the voice of Miguel saying to the Mobians while at the same time sounding too serious for his own good. "I mean, for all we know, those green pirate ghosts are still out there looking for the last piece of the Chaos Emerald and waiting for the chance to strike this city. Based on what I could tell, these things seem to be able to detect Chaos Energy. It's a good thing that Sylphiel has the emerald with her right now since leaving it at Yai's home safe isn't the safest idea that I could think of."

"Oh, stop worrying about that, Miguel," Sylphiel heard the young girl responding to her friend's words with a playful tone in her voice. "The only thing that you need to worry about is to blend in with the crowd while you guys look for that last piece of the emerald. Meanwhile, Miss Sylphiel, Maylu, and I are going to be checking out the outlet stores. The three of us would see which outfits would be most appropriate for a woman of her figure."

"Um, I still don't think that it would be necessary, Miss Yai," Sylphiel said to the little rich girl while at the same time flustering at the idea of having to go for a new dress at the young girl's account. "I don't like to be a bother to you by having you spend all your money on me and..."

The shrine maiden's words were soon cut short for when the pink-haired girl named Maylu said to her in a low voice while at the same time trying not to let Yai hear it, "I wouldn't worry about having to spend too much of Yai's money, Sylphiel. You see, her family's company makes a lot of money because they have the latest technology that could produce the latest products for Net Navis as well as for their NetOp's P.E.T.s."

"Just how much exactly does this company of hers make anyway?" she heard Mighty asking with a bit of curiosity in his voice.

As if to answer the armadillo's question, Sylphiel heard the voice of the computer program Glyde saying to him just as she saw the Navi's image appearing right on top of Yai's P.E.T. device while also displaying a picture filled with mult-colored graphs of some sort. "As you could see from those charts and graphs that are display right here, Ayano Tech, makes like about 80 of the world's most popular as well as its cutting edge technology as mentioned by Miss Maylu. So, the estimated total for the company would come to around 80 billion dollars or more. However, it comes to second place for when you compare its own stock prices with its top competitor runned by..."

Before the Net Navi could have the chance to finish the rest of his sentence, the shrine maiden suddenly saw Yai starting to become enraged with what her electronic servant was about to say just as she gave him a glare that could mean certain death. "Glyde! Don't you ever mention that jerk's company or even his name ever again! How many times do I have to tell you that!" the little blonde shouted out to Glyde just as she looked at her Navi with a death glare.

Sylphiel, along with everyone else in the huge vehicle were both shocked and frightened for when they've heard Yai's outrage. The shrine maiden saw the polite mannered computer program began quivering in fear just as she saw his image fading out of sight and back into the device that he is housed in. Just before either she or anyone else could have the chance to ask the little girl about what caused her mad outburst, the side door of the limo and sudden heard the voice of a mature male adult saying in a mild polite manner, "Miss Yai, we've arrived. Would you like anything for you and your friends before you head out?"

Then, like a moment later, Sylphiel saw the young girl angry expression turning friendly for when she turned towards the person's direction and spoke in a polite tone just as she rubbed her huge forehead, "I would just like a bottle of imported strawberry milk, James. I've got a headache that I need settled down before I go shopping."

The shrine maiden along with the entire group of friends just sweatdropped and got off of the huge luxerious vehicle just as she looked at the buildings around her. That was when she heard the voice of Vector whispering softly while at same time turning to see him turning his attention towards Maylu, "Yo, what's that girl's prob, guys? It's like she's got a grudge against someone or something like that. I mean, look at the way she puts away all that strawberry milk."

"You've got that right, Vec," she heard Espio adding to his friend's words with the same low tone while at the same time making sure that the young rich girl didn't hear them just as she saw Yai drinking the strawberry flavored milk down in huge gulps. "Whatever must've set her off like that is something really big!"

"Uh, guys? Think that you could let go of me now? I can't breathe," Sylphiel heard the muffled voice of Charmy saying to everyone while at the same time turning to see the young bee being sufficated by the tight grip of three of his friends' arms before finally being released.

"Sorry Charms, but that little girl was scary!" she heard Mighty saying to his friend before seeing the older Mobian blushing with embarrassment while at the same time speaking in a low voice so that he wouldn't be heard by Yai. "I mean, what in the world could've gotten her so angry that much? Even Knux isn't that hotheaded!"

"You guys really don't know her well, do you?" the shrine maiden heard the young girl Maylu saying to all of them while at the same time keeping her voice as low as possible so as to not be heard her young and yet hot-tempered companion. "Well you see, she's sort of got this thing against this guy named Chaud Eugene Blaze who's father owns a huge company that makes a lot more than Gabcom could and ever since the two of them met, well, they've been sort of competing with one another from technology to toys. But as time went by, she's also been competing for his heart with a girl named Annette. Well, you could all guess where it goes from there."

"Well, honestly I don't know how this whole thing started and I really wouldn't want to know," Sylphiel heard Mighty saying to the girl with a low tone while at the same time turning his full attention towards the surrounding area. "Right now, we should just focus on the sights that this city has to offer. I'm in the mood to try out those arcade games that I keep hearing about."

"Yeah, the last thing that we would all want is more problems," she heard the voice of Miguel saying to the group with the same low tone as the rest while trying not to be heard by the small girl. "Let's also not forget the real reason why we're out here. We shouldn't be around just to goof off."

"Oh, take a chill pill, man," Sylphiel heard the voice of Charmy saying to him while at the same time seeing the young bee starting to run up towards one of the store windows and saw a huge display of toys that were neatly arranged in a orderly fashion. "The stores around here look like that they contain interesting stuff here."

"Uh, Charmy don't look now, but I think that people are staring," the shrine maiden heard the voice of Espio saying to his young friend while turning towards the bee's direction and saw what the purple chameleon meant.

What she saw was a group of people staring not only at Charmy but the entire Chaotix group. Some of the children in the crowd were staring at the four Mobians with surprised and impressed expressions on their faces. All the adults looked at the Chaotix with curious and sort of scared expressions on each of their faces while trying to block their own children's view. As for the teens, they seemed to be either shocked or interested by the appearance that the four Mobians are putting on for as they gathered to get a closer look at the visitors from another world.

"Wow! Look at that, mommy!" she heard the voice of a little boy saying to his mother just as he pointed his index finger towards Vector's direction. "That guy in that crocodile costume looks so awesome! Can I have a costume like that one for when I go trick or treating for Halloween, mommy?"

"I don't think that it would be a good idea for you to dress like that, darling," Sylphiel heard the voice of the boy's mother saying to her son with a motherly tone. "But if you were to dress just like that cute and adorable bee person, then I might consider it."

"Whoa! Check out the weirdos in the costumes, dude!" she heard the voice of one of the teenaged boys saying to his friend while at the same time feeling a bit weirded out by the scene. "Those guys almost look like that they've come from a costume store and got the rejects. I bet that they don't have to pay much in order to get them."

Just before she could have the chance to hear Vector probably say something to the boy that spoke about him and his friends, she suddenly heard the voices of one of the teenaged girl shouting out with a squeal of delight just as they said, "Wow! The boy in that bee costume is the cutest thing that I've ever seen! I wish that I could put that sweet thing in my arms and hug him like a teddy bear!"

As soon as she heard that remark, Sylphiel turned towards Charmy's direction to see that his entire face was blushing with a red shade all over his face while at the same time trying to hide behind the back of Mighty for protection in case that any of the girls decided to try to hug the little Mobian. That was when she heard another young female voice saying while turning to see her facing her direction, "Wow! Look at that girl with the dark purple hair! She's so pretty! I bet that she's one of those super models or actresses that I've seen on TV or in the picture of magazines!"

The shrine maiden soon found herself blushing at the compliment that the girl had given her. She soon wondered that this is what the other people of her world would say for whenever she was healing either the sick and the injured. Sylphiel also wondered if this is what Miguel thought of her for when the first time that the two of them first met. She was so distracted with those thoughts that she didn't take the time to notice that a hand was grabbing at her wrist while at the same time dragging her away as if running from a stampede. That was when she soon noticed that the person that was dragging on her wrist strongly was none other than her friend Miguel who, along with all of the others, was running for his very life as if being chased by the Dark Lord Shabranigdo himself.

Before she could have the chance to ask about what was happening, the shrine maiden soon realized what was happening around her for when she turned behind her back to see a huge mob of people chasing after them as if they were criminals or somebody famous. Just then she soon found herself being dragged to what appears to be an alley way of sorts filled with shadows but by luck isn't littered with garbage. The shrine maiden soon found herself breathing in for air for when she realized that she too have been running along with the others.

"Yo...what was all...that about!" she heard the voice of Vector saying to everyone while at the same time hearing him laboring to get oxygen into his lungs. "I was just...starting to like...all the...attention that we...were getting."

"Sorry, but that crowd back there was a bit too close for comfort, Vector!" Sylphiel heard the voice of the young girl Yai saying to the crocodile with an annoyed and sarcastic tone in her voice while still being able to breath properly. "The way that those people were looking at you guys were really starting to get a bit too uncomfortable. I think that they're getting a bit too suspicious."

"For once, I agree with Yai on this one," she heard the voice of Maylu while at the same time turning to see the girl beginning to relax while holding onto a blushing and choking Charmy into her arms. "I mean, one of the kids too curious for while they were looking at poor Charmy and began to tug at his arms and his wings."

"Uh, think that...you could...let go of...me, Maylu?" the shrine maiden heard the young voice of Charmy saying while turnig to see the red-haired girl choking the young bee within her arms. "I need...to breathe."

"Well, now what are we going to do?" she heard the voice of Miguel saying to everyone in the group while at the same time feeling a bit aggitated with the experienced that they've just had. "We can't just go back out into the streets again. I mean, from the way those people were looking at the Chaotix, there's bound to be a mob scene."

"But what about both Miguel and Sylphiel?" Sylphiel heard the voice of Mighty saying to everyone while turning towards the armadillo's direction to see him with a thoughtful expression on his face just as she saw Charmy flying towards his friend after freeing himself from Maylu's grasp. "It seems that the two of them were the only ones that didn't attract the crowd's attention as much as we did."

"That's probably because both Miguel and Sylphiel are human, Mighty," she heard the voice of the cute looking program Roll saying to the Mobian while at the same time turning to see her image hovering above Maylu's P.E.T. device. "From the way that the crowd was looking at you guys because of your appearance, who wouldn't be curious? But don't think that Sylphiel wasn't unnoticeable to the crowd. I've heard one of the girls saying that she looks like a super model. As for the males, they're just usually saying what most guys would say for when they see a pretty girl in their sights."

"Well, that's just great! What are we going to do now?" the shrine maiden heard the voice of Vector shouting out loud while at the same time hearing him kick his foot at a nearby wall. "We can't even set foot on the streets unless we want to attract the crowd's attention without causin' any trouble! What are we going to do?"

"If I may be open to a suggestion to you all," Sylphiel heard the voice of Glyde saying to everyone in the group while she turned towards Yai's direction to see the Navi's image hovering above her own P.E.T. "I think that I may have some solution to our present predicament. You see, since both Miguel and Sylphiel are both human, they would be able to blend in with the people of this world. But since the Chaotix are a different species that come from another planet, they would certainly attract some unwanted attention from the crowd. They could pose as kids in costumes for this coming Halloween, but there would be a chance that someone would bound to notice that they're not from around here. So why not try the arcade near the mall?"

"Glyde, you're a genius! The arcade is the perfect place for the Chaotix to hang out!" the shrine maiden heard Yai saying to her Navi with a excited and happy tone. "I've heard that the arcade is offering a special on kids that comes in with a costume on for this coming Halloween! No one would be able to suspect that you guys are a race from another world there!"

"Then that means that Miguel could be the one to look after them while both me and Yai look for a dress for Miss Sylphiel to wear around here!" she heard Maylu adding to her young rich friend's words with the same excited tone in her voice.

"Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute! Why do I have to be the one to look after the Chaotix?" the shrine maiden heard the voice of Miguel saying to the two girls just as she turned to see a rather shocked expression on his face.

"I think that it's pretty obvious that you would be the perfect body guard for them," Sylphiel heard Yai responding to her friend's words with a sort of innocent tone in her voice. "I mean, you were able to take down those ghosts with just one attack. So if anything like that were to happen, you would be able take care of it. Plus, from what I've heard in the news this morning, the Net Police were still not able to identify you yet. So you're still perfectly safe. Besides, shopping for clothes is more of a girl thing."

"(Sighs) Well, for when you guys put it that way, I have to agree," the shrine maiden heard Miguel saying to the little girl while at the same time letting out a sigh of defeat for as he saw that he was surrounded and cornered by the group. "Besides, it's obvious that I'm out numbered here. So I guess that I really have no choice."

"I'd knew that you would be able to see things my way, Miguel!" she heard the young rich girl saying to her friend with a chuckle to her voice as she turned to see the girl taking something from within her purse and tossing the two objects towards Miguel's direction while seeing him catch them at the same time. "That card that I've just given you has an unlimited amount of money that I've got in my account. I've got plenty of cards in my purse for in case of emergencies. Now, the arcade that Glyde mentioned is right about two blocks to the left for as soon as you leave this place. You shouldn't miss it. Oh and I've also given you an ID card from my family's company so that when the owner of the arcade asks about the card, you could show it to him without causing any trouble. Well, let's get going Maylu!"

As soon as she saw the images of the Navis Roll and Glyde vanish out of sight before seeing both girls putting their P.E.T.s onto their cases, Sylphiel heard the voice of Maylu saying to her while at the same time feeling her arm being tugged by the pinkish girl's hand, "Come on, Miss Sylphiel! We've got some serious shopping to do if we're going to get that dress of yours for that special guy of yours."

As she was being tugged away towards the exit of the alley, the shrine maiden began to stutter out to both of the girls while feeling flustered at the thought about wearing a dress for the 'special person', "M-Miss Yai! M-Miss Maylu! What in the world are you both talking about and just where are we going? Just what are you two planning?"

"Oh, nothing, Miss Sylphiel. Just a place that I usually go to get my own dresses," she heard the voice of the little wealthy girl answering with a sort of mischievous tone just as she saw that they were in a district filled with stores that sell nice dresses along with jewelry and other sort of beautiful items. "I'm sure that they would have something that would fit that gorgeous figure of yours. They would be able to make one from scratch."

"Um, I'm not sure if that's really a good idea, Miss Yai," Sylphiel said to the little girl with a sort of nervous tone while at the same time still emitting a red but light shade on her face just as she saw that the three of them were entering into a store that filled with all sorts of marvelous dresses and clothing to choose from. "I mean, it's not that I'm not grateful for what you and Miss Maylu are doing for me, but don't you think that this is a little too much? I don't want to sound like a bother to you by having you spend all of your money on me."

"Oh, it won't be a bother to her at all, Miss Sylphiel," she heard the voice of Maylu saying to her with the same tone as her small friend's just as they've made their way to the main register. "She has so many cards and money at her disposal that she could by her own castle."

"Well, that's rather...interesting," the shrine maiden said while at the same time letting out a huge sweatdrop behind her head while trying to get the idea that a young girl her age would be able to buy a large castle to pop into her mind.

"Okay, let's stop chatting already and start searching for the perfect dress for Sylphiel to try on!" she heard Yai saying while at the same time being greeted by a man in a nicely tailored suit with a black tie along with perfectly smooth raven hair. "Hello, Mr. Calvin, it's good to see you again. It's seems that you've got that message that I've sent you."

"Why the pleasure was all mine, Ms. Ayano!" the shrine maiden heard the man saying to the the little girl with a polite and gitting tone while at the same time bowing in order as he took her hand and gave it a kiss as a gentleman would. "It's always been a pleasure for me and my people to give our services to you and your family. Now, what would you like for me to do for you today, Ms. Ayano? Are you here for your usual fitting?"

"Well yes, but that's not all that I've had in mind for today, Calvin," Sylphiel heard the young girl saying to the person with her own polite tone just as she saw Yai pointing her face towards her direction. "What I'm asking for is actually not for me. You see, this young lady over here would like to try some of your latest along with some of your older designs. She's really from out of town and is from an old but great royal family. As an old family friend, I'll be covering for her tab."

Just before she could have the chance to ask Yai quietly about the story that she just told the man, the shrine maiden suddenly felt both of her hands being grabbed by both the gentleman's own as she saw him studying her feature with a thoughtful and yet amazed gaze. "Hmmmmm. This young lady is a perfect example of natural beauty, Miss Ayano. The skin on her face looks so soft and her figure is just so honed and well-shaped! And look at those eyes! They're glittering like precious gems! Just what is this lovely young woman's name?"

"Sylphiel," the former priestess of Sairaag found her self saying to the owner of the store with a nervous tone while still feeling a bit anixous about the lie that Yai told to him. "My name is Sylphiel Nels Lahda and I'm only here because Miss Yai insisted that I get a dress to walk around in since I would be here for a while."

"Well, it seems that, judging from the clothing that you wear, I'd say that you **are** from another foreign part of the world," the man named Mr. Calvin said to her just as he continued scan her features before looking right at her eyes. "Well! Well! Well! It seems to me that you have somebody in your heart that you would like to impress, young lady! So, who's the lucky young man that fortunate enough to snag a beauty such as yourself?"

Just before that she could have the chance to answer his question while fighting back the embarrassing feeling within her body, the shrine maiden soon heard the voice of Yai beginning to say to him with a rather miffed and impatient tone in her voice, "Calvin, we don't have time for questions like this! All that we could say to you is that this person is very close to her heart since they've first met and that they've been crazy about each other ever since. Now, if we're done with the introductions, both me and Miss Sylphiel along with Miss Sakurai would like to try on some of your best designs that money could buy!"

"Oh, of course, Miss Ayano! Right away!" she heard the man saying to Yai with a sort of busy tone in voice while at the same time hearing him clap his hands together that brought out a line of young ladies with different hair styles and features. "Ladies, these three young women would like to try out some of our best designs and see which would be appropriate for their figure. Now, take them each into a fitting room and take their measurements so that we could help them become belles of the ball!"

"Yes sir!" she heard the young female assistants of the store saying in unison while at the same time found herself being lifted and hoisted into a fitting room along with both Yai and Maylu.

"Ahh! Yai! What are you planning to do with me!" the shrine maiden heard the voice of Maylu saying to her friend while at the same time seeing the pink-haired girl being carried off the same way as both she and Yai were. "I have nothing to do with this!"

"Well it's about time that you should wear a dress that would get Lan's attention for once," was all that Sylphiel heard from the young girl saying to her friend with a mischievious chuckle just before she was in a room filled with young ladies with measuring tapes and all sort of devices that are used to get her measurements.

_"Well, at least no one would be able to know about this sort of thing back in my world," _the shrine maiden thought to herself while she felt relaxed by the fact that no one that she knew was watching her being measured for her new outfit. _"I would just die if Miss Lina or the others would see me like this. Right now, I'm just glad that they're not here. I wonder what Miguel and the Chaotix are doing right now?" _

Just as she allowed the young females to take her measurements, Sylphiel suddenly felt a powerful surge of power flowing within her body. It was so strong that it was enough to cause her to shiver as if she were freezing. _"(Gasp!) This energy that I'm feeling! It's so strong!" _the shrine maiden thought to herself just as she felt the young female assistants doing their best to calm her body down by offering her something warm to drink. _"However, it's not strong enough to be either Nightmare Parasite or whatever it is that both me and Miguel felt last night. I hope that he's doing better than I'm doing right now and is able to see or sense where it went." _

As soon as he and the Chaotix were out of the alley, Miguel began to scan around the area to see if the huge mob that they were attracting were still out there looking for them. By a stroke of luck, he didn't see a single person that he'd recognized from the mob that were trying to get a better look of the four Mobians that were walking with him.

_"At least some of the people around here seemed all too focused on their daily tasks," _the teen thought to himself just as he noticed some of the people starting to gaze towards their direction. _"Well, most of the folks around here anyway. Some are just starting to get too curious about the Chaotix. Let's just get to that arcade and wait until the girls get back from cloths shopping before people around here start to..."_

Miguel's thoughts were then cut short for when he felt a hand on his shoulder. That was when he soon realized that the huge hand of Vector was on his shoulder. "Uh, Miguel, we're here!" the green crocodile said to him while at the same time beginning to notice his existence since he left the alley. "This must be the place that Yai girl was talkin' about. I'm sure that there's plenty of fun games for us to try out! Let's all get the lead out!"

"Vector! Don't you think that we should wait until Miguel could get us the proper clearance from the owner of the place?" Miguel heard the voice of Espio saying to his friend while at the same time seeing the purple chameleon beginning to look at the huge place right in front of them with a surprised expression on his face.

From what the teen could gather, the place that they were standing in front in was a huge building that's nicely painted with a variety of nice colors that's also designed with differents shapes in order to get the crowd's attention. As they all approached towards the entrance of the building and went inside, Miguel was finally able to get a good look on what the arcade was really like. What he saw were numerous amounts of arcade machines as well as a large amount of kids and teens playing on them. Most were wearing a variety of different costume themes while others were in their regular clothing. He could also see a great number of tables as well as chairs near a snack bar that are supposedly used for whenever people were a bit peckish. Not only that, but the teen could clearly see that the place that they were in now was packed and some of the people were starting to notice their presence.

_"Well, I suppose that it's time that we get this thing over with," _Miguel thought to himself just as he looked around and stopped for when he found the front desk that's supposedly in charge of the place. _"At least some of the kids around here are wearing costumes. I just hope that Yai knows what she's doing by giving me one of her credit cards as well as this ID Card. The last thing that we would want is more trouble." _

"You guys start lookin' around the place while I deal with the people in charge of the place," the teen said to his four Mobian friends just as he turned to see the group already starting to run towards the large group of arcade machines that are available.

Just as he sighed at the Chaotix for running off, Miguel quickly refocused his attention back towards his task and soon found himself waiting by the arcade's front desk. As he waited for someone to appear at the front desk, the teen soon began to see that some of the people of the arcade were already starting to notice the four Mobian's existence. He saw some of the kids starting to walk over to Vector and watched in awe on how he looked.

Just before he could have time to intervene, Miguel suddenly felt someone tapping on his shoulder and turned to see a young and but older looking woman with long and curled red hair looking at him with a confused expression on her face just before speaking to him, "Uh, excuse me, sir, but is there anything that I could help you with?"

As soon as he heard those words, the teen suddenly took out the credit card that Yai gave him from his pocket and said while pointing his index finger towards the Chaotix that are near one of the arcade machines, "Oh, yes. You see the four kids in the costumes there? Well, the five of us are going to be here for a while and I was wondering if we could purchase some tokens for the machines?"

"Certainly, young man," responded the person in charge just as Miguel saw the female starting to go over to a computer and began to type furiously at the keyboard just before speaking again. "Okay, would you please state your name please so that I would know who the person in charge for watching the group is."

"The name is Miguel Angel Arias, ma'am," the teen responded to the woman in charge with a polite tone in his voice while at the same time looking over at the Chaotix and saw them being crowded by a gang of curious kids looking over them.

Just before he could even have the chance to say something to subdue the crowd, Miguel heard the voice of the young woman at the desk saying to him while speaking with a friendly tone, "Well, you and your friends happened to be in luck. As you could see, we're offering a special on kids who come in dressed in costumes for this upcoming Halloween. Now, how many tokens would you and your friends like to get for each of you?"

"Well, just give out a fifty for each person, please," the teen responded to the woman in charge just as he saw her beginning to type furiously at the keyboard and stopped for when she was finished.

"Would you be paying by cash, check, or credit, young man?" the red-haired woman asked him with another friendly smile just as she waited for his response.

Miguel was a bit hesitate at first for when she was asked that question. But as soon as that thought was set aside, the teen began to pull out the credit card that Yai gave to him and said while handing it out to her, "I'll be paying with credit, ma'am."

"Thank you, sir!" he heard the the woman saying to him with a friendly tone just as she slid the credit card in the reader and began to once again type furiously at the keyboard while at the same time looking at the computer screen. "Well, it seems that the amount that I'm going to ask for you is certainly enough to cover what you're asking. All I have to do is to just get the packs of the number of tokens that you've just requested and you're all set."

"That's good to know, miss. Thank you," was all that Miguel could answer to the woman just as he was handed back the card that Yai gave to him and was given a polite smile by the person in charge just before he saw her entering into what appears to be a store room of sorts.

Just as he waited for the woman to return with the tokens, the teen soon found his attention caught by the sight of Charmy starting to eye two kids in a racing game while both of them wearing both matching sets of twin ninja costumes. He also noticed Espio doing the best as he could to keep the people's attention away from him as best as possible without having to resort to his invisiblity ability. As for Mighty, Miguel saw that the armadillo was having no hard time trying to blend himself with the crowd while speaking to one of the teenaged girls in the arcade dressed up as warrior princesses while at the same time making him blush for the comments they both gave to him. Then when he turned his full attention towards Vector, he saw that the green crocodile was starting to attract most of the teens and kids in the arcade while they gathered around him and started asking him a whole bunch of questions about himself. Some mostly curious about his 'costume' that he was wearing. All and all, the crowd didn't quite go as out of control as the people outside did a while ago.

Just before he could have the chance to go over to his friends to see how they were doing, Miguel suddenly heard the voice of the young woman saying to him with the ever present friendly tone in her voice, "Um, Mr. Arias? Your tokens are all ready for you and your friends to use. Is something the matter?"

As soon as he turned his full attention back towards the attendant's direction, the teen saw that she was holding five clear plastic bags with what appears to be a handful of tokens in each one. He also noticed the look of concern on her face just as she held it towards her direction. That was when he decided to break the long silence by saying to the woman, "No, I'm alright, ma'am. I was just a bit concerned for my friends and the way the people here are reacting to their appearance, that's all."

"I can see what you mean," responded the red-headed woman just as he saw her giving out the bag of tokens to him. "I mean, the way that your friends as able to manipulate their costumes they way that they do, it almost makes them look like that they were real. Though the earphones and gloves along with those other accessories really does go over a bit out of the imagination. I mean, who would believe that a cute little cartoon bee would be a fighter pilot?"

"Y-Yeah! Who would want to believe that? Well, thanks for the tokens and have a nice day!" Miguel responded to the woman with a nervous chuckle in his voice just before he took the plastic bags of tokens from the red-haired female and began to hurriedly marching back towards his Mobian friends while trying to get things moving along as soon as possible. "Hey, guys! I got the tokens for us to play around here for a bit! Each of you take a bag and find a game that you would want to play for a bit!"

As soon as he said those words, the teen saw the four Mobians starting to run up towards him like children eager to get money from their parents. He was even surprised that both Mighty and Espio would be able to react this way for when they got a bag full of tokens for their own amusement. _"Well, I guess that these guys are bored with just seeing the other kids and teens playing around." _the teen thought to himself just as he looked around the arcade to see the numerous kinds of games that the people of the place have._ "I think that I would like to check out some of the games around here as well and..." _

Just before he could have the chance to finish the rest of his thoughts, Miguel suddenly felt a powerful force surging throughout his entire body as well as noticing the screens on some of the games of the arcade starting to emit static. "Augh! Again! This is about the third time that something like this happened since yesterday!" he heard the voice of the female attendant in charge saying with a rather annoyed tone as she witnessed whatever he just felt.

As soon as the feeling has passed, the teen soon began to think to himself, _"Now what the hell was that? What I've felt just now is a great amount of Chaos Energy. But now it just vanished out of sight without leaving a single trace. I hope that wherever Sylphiel is that she was able to feel it as well. I just pray that it's not one of Nightmare Parasite's minions out there to cause trouble. If it is, then the people of this world could be in a whole lot of danger." _

As soon as he felt himself regaining his consciousness, Shadow tried as best as he could to open his eyes in order to see where he is. For when he regained his full eyesight, the Ultimate Life Form saw that he was lying down on something soft enough to be a bed of sorts. Before the black hedgehog could have the chance to even stand on his two feet to see where exactly he was, he felt his entire body becoming weak with fatigue. So weak that he finally decided to give in and just lay back down on the bed.

_"I guess that using the power of the Chaos Control took a bit more out of me than I thought," _he thought to himself just as felt the soft mattress of the bed touching his back. _"Wherever I am now, it seems abandoned." _

True to his thoughts, Shadow looked around to see that he was in an abandoned building of sorts that looked as though it had been deserted for years. The walls of the building appeared to be cracked and worned down while the windows were either broken or cracked just enough for the wind outside to enter. Just as soon as he tried to get a better look at the surroundings that he was in, he soon heard the voice of a familiar young female saying to him while at the same time feeling slender but gentle arms starting to wrap themselves around his body, "Shadow! Oh thank goodness that you're awake! I thought that something worst might've come up with something worst since you've been knocked out a while back! I'm so relieved! I don't want to ever let you go!"

As soon as he felt his lungs becoming desperate for air, the black hedgehog suddenly realized that the young woman that was holding onto him was the new love of his life that came from another world. A world where different magical creatures of all kinds existed. A world where the new love in his heart lived. She was a human girl who once lived as a mortal in the days of Ancient Egypt that could use magic and summon monsters. A girl that goes by the name of Mana in her human life but is now know as a creature called the Dark Magician Girl.

As he felt his own lungs in dire need for air, Shadow began to say to Mana while struggling to breathe, "Mana...you can let...go now! I...can't breathe!"

That was when he felt the young woman's arms unwrapping themselves from his body just as soon as he spoke those words. As soon as he landed on the ground, the black hedgehog soon found himself trying to get oxygen back into his lungs while at the same time trying to keep his consciousness. "Oh, I'm so sorry that I did that, Shadow Darling!" he heard Mana saying to him while at the same time keeping himself awake and intact. "It's just that you have me so worried that I just couldn't help but hug you to see if you're alive!"

"Well, I really appreciate all of the concern that you're showing me, Mana. But do you really have to hug me so hard?" Shadow responded to the female magician with a friendly tone as he finally regained his breath and tried to get on his feet again while at the same time feeling like his body has been tenderized. "Just what in the world happened to me while I was out? I mean, the last thing that I've remember is being attacked by a strange monster with a huge weapon and then I had to attack it by using my Chaos Spear on the thing. For that matter, just where in the world are we anyway?"

As he asked that question, the Ultimate Life Form soon began to hear Mana saying to him with a rather flustered and confused tone in her voice, "Well actually, what you've just attacked a while ago was a confused young boy that was holding a weapon. But he didn't mean any harm by walking over to you in order to threaten you with it. Then you suddenly lost all of your energy and began to fall to the ground. I was able to catch you and then teleported us away from the opening seeing that we're in another world that could be your human friend's. Just what in world are you doing trying to warp over here? I was really worried for when I've sensed that your energy was being repressed and I thought that worst has happened to you."

Shadow was feeling a bit embarrassed for when he heard those words come out of the female magician's mouth. The black hedgehog soon heard Mana beginning to giggle cutely at his sudden embarrassment. But the feeling at the moment was soon forgotten for when he suddenly felt a surge of power flowing from within his body. The black hedgehog then heard a surprised gasp coming from the female magician as sign that she too felt the same force as he did.

"Mana, did you feel that energy?" Shadow asked Mana with a tone of seriousness just as he looked all around his surroundings in order to see where the powerful energy source came from. "That energy is coming from a Chaos Emerald! And if I didn't know any better, I'd say that there are two other sources of Chaos Energy within this area."

"I did, Shadow darling," he heard the young female responding with the same seriousness in her voice while turning to see her looking all around the area to see where the power source came from. "Not only that, but I'm also detecting two beings emitting a strong source of that energy that you've mentioned. One of them is sort of familiar to me while the other one remains unknown. I couldn't be certain, but I think that your friend, Miguel, is somewhere nearby."

As soon as he heard that name come out of Mana's mouth, the black hedgehog soon became shocked at what he just heard. He then closed both of his eyes and began to concentrate on the source that he believed to be Miguel's own Chaos Energy. After about a moment of searching, Shadow soon gasped with surprise for when he finally found the source of Chaos Energy that the female magician was talking about.

_"This is definitely Miguel's energy signature!" _Shadow thought to himself just as he continued to scan for the energy that he was sensing. _"As for the other one, it seems familiar and yet...Wait a minute! Whatever it is, it's right near a Chaos Emerald! I'd better get over there and..." _

Just before he could have the chance to finish his thoughts, the black hedgehog's concentratioin was soon broken for when he heard the voice of Mana saying to him with a rather stern voice just as he opened his eyes and saw her looking at him with a suspicous expression, "Shadow, I would like to know what's going on that got you into this world to begin with. Does this has something to do with that friend of yours? I want to know the truth and I want to hear nothing but the truth come out of that mouth of yours."

The Ultimate Life Form soon found himself being cornered by the one girl that managed to capture his heart, like a cat would do to a cornered mouse. He let out a defeated sigh for when he knew that there was no way that he could lie to her after all they've been through. "(Sighs) I suppose that I could never hold the truth away from you, Mana. I guess that I have no choice but to tell you what exactly why I'm here. It all began like this..."

That was when the black hedgehog began his explanation to Mana on how he and his friends were able to detect a large amount of Chaos Energy in another world. He also covered the part for when they couldn't detect the energies of both Miguel and Sylphiel from anywhere near their worlds as well as the disappearance of the group called the Chaotix. Shadow also gave the female magician a bit of info regarding the shrine maiden's own history and background as well as to how she came into his male human friend's world to begin with. He chuckled a bit for when he saw the jealous reaction on Mana's face for when he described on how lovely that Sylphiel was for a human.

"I wouldn't worry about having to compete with her, Mana," he said to his jealous love with a genuine smile on his face while at the same time grabbing onto her hand and held it with a gentle touch. "Besides, I've noticed that both she and my friend Miguel have this thing for each other since they've first met. They're both just too shy and nervous to admit it to anyone. They both blush as soon as they look at each other."

As soon as he heard the soft giggling coming from the young female, Shadow began to turn his mind away from the matter and began talking seriously again about his mission, "Mana, I'm afraid that we might have to talk more about this sort of thing later for when we have the time. Right now, we have to try to find Miguel and Sylphiel so that they could help me find the Chaos Emerald as well as the Chaotix. If that emerald were to fall into the wrong hands, just about anything could happen in this world."

"Well, we can't just go out in public either, Shadow darling," he heard Mana saying to him with a rather concerned and worried tone in her voice just as she looked at him with a serious expression. "I mean, the way that you've frightened that child with that attack of yours and scared him off, I almost thought that you were a raving lunatic."

"Sorry. But I was a bit dizzy and confused at the time," Shadow responded to the young female's words with a sort of embarrassed tone just as he did his best to hide the blush that he has on his face. "I wasn't too sure what was in front of me for when that kid walked over to us with that weapon of his. But enough about that, we have more important things to worry about. Right now, we have to find both Miguel and Sylphiel so that we could find the Chaos Emerald that's somewhere in this world."

"But we can't just go out in public the way we are. The people of this world would surely be suspicious," he heard Mana saying to him with a rather serious tone just before he turned to see her face emitting a smile on her face. "I just happened to have the perfect spell for the two of us to blend in with our surroundings. It's something that I've been working while I was training under my master back in Ancient Egypt. I've only been able to use this sort of spell in order for me to blend in to wherever world that I'm in. However, I'm not too sure if I would be able to use it on another being along with myself. But it's your choice if you really want me to do it for you as well."

The black hedgehog began to think about the option that Mana just offered and went over other alternatives that he could think of. _"Hmmm. Me being transformed into a human being by Mana's own magic?" _he thought to himself just as he looked at the young female's face that's looking at him with a curious and anxious expression on it. _"Well, I'm not too sure if me going around this city would be a good idea for when I'm in an unknown world that's different from the one that Miguel comes from. But since going through time and space while appearing in the place where the Chaos Emerald might be found by a heavily army military that could be using its power for their own uses, it's clearly not an option. I guess that I have no choice but to do it."_

"Okay Mana, I think that you should do that spell of yours," Shadow said to Mana while at the same time giving her a smile on his face. "We don't want any suspicion coming from the people around here while we're in this world. So why don't you do your magic and help us to get on with this mission of mine?"

As soon as he said those words, the Ultimate Life Form saw a cute smile beginning to form on the female magician's face while he heard her saying to him with cheerful tone, "Why that's all that I've wanted to hear from you, Shadow darling! Now, it's going to take a moment for me to try to remember the words for the spell. As soon as I do, I would be able to change the both of us into alternate forms. So please give me a moment to find the right words so that I could perform the spell correctly, Shadow darling."

The black hedgehog soon found himself chuckling softly for as he saw Mana beginning to think to herself while at the same time speaking in what appears to be Ancient Egyptian. _"**Shadow darling**? Now that's something that I didn't notice during our relationship," _Shadow thought to himself while continuing to watch the young and blonde female thinking to herself for the words to her spell. _"I guess that considering the fact that the two of us saved each other's lives while getting to know each other in the process, she think that it would be suiting. I guess that it's one of those things that I have to get used to for when it comes to being in a relationship with a girl. Let alone a beautiful one. _

_"(Sighs) Speaking of which, I wonder just how both Miguel and Sylphiel are doing? Perhaps the two of them found the Chaotix somewhere in this world. But maybe the two of them are just strolling around with one another somewhere in this world like a cute couple. Hee! I'm reading too much into this. But I can't help but shake the feeling that something strange is going to happen. Not to me or Mana, but to someone else. I hope that it's nothing that could bring the downfall of this world."_

As soon as he finished with those thoughts, the black hedgehog soon began to hear the voice of the female magician saying to him while feeling a bit excited, "Alright, Shadow darling, I was able to find the words to the spell that I've told you about. Just close both of your eyes for me so that the light wouldn't blind you. Okay, here it goes."

Shadow soon did as he was told and closed both of his crimson eyes so that the light that the spell emitted wouldn't blind him.

**End of Part 8**


	9. Chapter 9

**Note to readers:** I'm very sorry that I've been late with putting up this latest chapter. It's just that it's been very hard for me to catch up with both my work as well as my college Java assignments. That's the last time that I've travel with both my parents. Now, I would like to note that I did manage to put in the former members of World Three in this chapter and probably this story but it wasn't easy for me to do so. It's very hard for me to get more characters into the story, but then it would be too long for me to write. As for Shadow the Hedgehog fans, don't worry. I'll put in him and his new girlfriend in the next chapter. Also, there might be some references to the **MegaMan X** series in this chapter as well so I would like to say that it belongs to **CAPCOM**., not me. I've been in this type of situations before and I'm sure that I could pull it off. Now, I would like to thank the group **Generation-A** for their continued support and for allowing me to put in their characters **Air Jay** and **Maliska** into this fic. As I have mentioned in my previous chapters, the characters do not belong to me but belong to the owners mentioned in the first one. Now enjoy!

**Part 9**

Just as soon as he sensed a powerful surge of energy coming from the planet that he once nearly laid his judgement upon, Duo turned his full attention towards the direction where the blue planet Earth is located.

_"What is this powerful energy signature that I'm feeling from within the earth?" _the outer worldly navi thought to himself just as he continued to scan the planet to see where the energy originated from. _"Whatever or whomever is emitting this energy is certainly powerful. But a human couldn't be responsible for emitting this type of power. I must head towards Earth in order to..."_

Just before Duo could have the chance to finish the rest of his thoughts, he was suddenly shocked for when he heard a mysterious and human-sounding male voice saying to him in a rather urged tone in his voice, **_"I wouldn't dare to try to interfere with Master Arias's mission, Duo. Even as we speak, there is a conflict that would not only determine the fate of the planet Earth, but the fate of this entire universe as well." _**

_"What do you mean by those words, human?"_ the huge advanced Navi said to whoever or whatever was speaking through him with such words telepathically. _"Who are you to tell me what planet and race to judge or not? What is your business with the Earth and the humans that inhabit it?"_

As if to answer his question, the huge space asteriod navi felt a sudden surge of great and unknown power flowing throughout space that his asteroid was surrounded in. Just as soon as the energy surge was finished flowing throughout the area that he was in, Duo felt as though that whatever was emitting this great power was draining the very energy out of his huge armored body. He also felt that the being that was emitting this strong and yet unknown power could crush him in mere seconds if it wanted.

**_"I'm one of the servants of the one that would save this universe as well as many others from destruction," _**the mysterious visitor said to the Duo just as he tried his best to regain the strength that he just lost. **_"I'm not a human being that you've just assumed. What you've just felt was only a small portion of the power that was once apart of a lord that ruled all universes long ago. Now, I've just placed a seal around the galaxy that contains the planet that you've once place your own judgement just to ensure that you wouldn't dare to interfere. _**

**_"It's only fair to warn you that if you plan to once again place your judgement upon the humans of that world, then you would be the one that would face the ultimate judgement by my hand. This is your one and only warning, Duo. I, along with my two other companions, have learned all about you and your ancient history. We've also learned all about your creation along with other knowledge about you throughout the many millennia that we've spent protecting our creator's most powerful weapon. So I would suggest that you keep your distance from the Earth before anything lethal would happen to you."_**

As soon as those words were said and done, the outer worldly Navi began to tremble for when he heard those last words said from his mysterious visitor. It was an emotion that he hadn't really experienced in all of the millennia that he had traveled through space. He then felt the powerful disturbance throughout all time and space beginning to disappear without leaving a single trace of its existence behind. All that Duo could think about was those words that the mysterious being said to him as he could still feel a bit of its power throughout his entire huge body.

As soon as he finally reached the office where Mr. Famous would usually be at, Lan sat down by a nearby chair and began to wait. Mr. Famous's office hasn't changed much since all of his recent missions. It was still filled with nothing but three monitors in order to see what his other agents were up to or for when he received their reports. Just as he felt that he was going to be stuck in the room for the rest of his life, the head-banded boy soon heard the door from Mr. Famous's office beginning to open. He soon found himself staring at both Chaud Eugene Blaze and Mr. Famous entering the room with serious expressions on their faces.

"So what's this all about?" Lan asked both of them while at the same time feeling nervous about what they were going to ask. "I mean, from what that e-mail said, you both wanted to talk to me about what happened yesterday. Why do I have to be a part of this investigation? Think that you could fill me in on the info, Mr. Famous?"

"Lan, how many times do I have to tell you that my real name is Famous?" he heard Mr. Famous saying to him with both a serious and annoyed tone in his voice just as the young boy saw the older adult going over to his desk and sat at his chair just before he saw him turning towards the huge video monitor. "Well, as for your question, some eyewitnesses that were at the scene at the time just happen to spot you heading towards the entrance of your school just before the large disturbances began. As soon as the Net Police were able to get to the scene, they didn't find any evidence of a terrorist act anywhere in DenTech Academy. Not even a single trace of explosives or devices that could cause a powerful magnetic field were found anywhere in sight. The only thing that was out of place were the numerous chairs and desks that were scattered in a strange way."

"That's where you come in, Lan," Lan heard Chaud adding to one of the commanders of the Net Savors's words just as the screen came to life and showed a distorted picture. "The only piece of evidence that we've got so far is this piece of phote data the we've retreived from the scene. However, it was corrupted from where caused the magnetic field and our specialists are doing all that they can in order to reveal the suspect's identity. We have reason to believe that you might somehow know something about this suspect from someone who reported in seeing you with someone last night."

That was when the head-banded began to sweat profusely for when he heard those words come out of the skunk-haired Official's words. Meanwhile, MegaMan in the cyber world was having his own confrontation with ProtoMan about the subject at hand. "What makes you think that Lan and I are involve in this, ProtoMan?" the blue navi asked his crimson companion with both a worried and yet nervous tone in his voice while fearing what he might have to say about it as well as trying to keep what he knew about the Chaos Emerald or the Chaotix to himself.

"The owner of a nearby electronic store reported seeing Lan near the facility at about 6:35 p.m. before another strange phenomenon occurred," answered the long and silver-haired Navi while at same time looking down on MegaMan as if he were in a middle of a police interrogation. "He said that he saw a male teen that looked to be about eighteen or nineteen with brown short hair while wearing a white shirt and blue pants walking by with Lan while at the same time noticing the guy acting as if he were watched. Fortunately, the disturbance that occurred at the time wasn't as powerful as the ones that we've experienced before that time. But that's not real reason why both you and Lan are here today, MegaMan."

Back in the real world, right after Chaud's same briefing about the case, Famous began to ask Lan with a serious tone in his voice while at the same time turning away from the pixel ridded image and turning towards his direction, "Lan, who was the person that you were with for when you were going home? He might have something to do with that suspect that could be responsible for all of those powerful magnetic interferences. For all we know, he could very well be the suspect."

Just as soon as he heard those words, the young boy started to sweat profusely just as his Navi did in the Cyber World. "T-T-The guy t-t-that was w-w-with me was a-a-a-a friend that just came f-f-f-from out of town," Lan replied nervously to both Famous and Chaud while at the same time being careful not to mention anything about Miguel, Sylphiel, or the Chaotix as well as anything that would fit with the Chaos Emerald. "Y-Y-Yeah! He's just an old family friend that came to visit in order to see how I as doing. That's it."

As soon as he finished his explanation, Lan saw that the eyes of both Chaud and Famous were on him like as if they were tigers all over their prey. The head-banded boy was growing more nervous and frightened with every moment that passed as the silence continued. As for MegaMan, he was having a similar situation with ProtoMan who was now staring down at him with his shade-covered eyes the same way as his black and white hair-colored NetOp and the scientist were.

"MegaMan, do you know something about this person that you're not telling us?" the red serious Navi said to his small blue friend as he continued to stare his visor concealed eyes down at his small blue frame. "He wouldn't happen to be that suspect that we're looking for, would he?"

"Hey, you know how Lan can't keep up with current events," MegaMan replied to ProtoMan with the same nervous tone of voice that his NetOp used while at the same time trying to avoid the subject. "I mean, how would he know all about that guy from the news that you're trying to catch? He's as clueless as any boy his age would get."

That was when the blue Navi heard a rather angry and annoyed voice coming from out of nowhere scrowling at him. He soon realized that the voice that he heard was Lan's, "MegaMan! I'm not as dense as everyone says I am! Why did you bring that thing up anyway!"

As he shrunk down to the floor in order to hide the terror and wrath that he was afraid that his human friend might bring, MegaMan soon noticed the rarely impful grin appearing all across Protoman's face. "Okay now, if the two of you are finished acting like a married couple, could we maybe continue with this investigation?" the blue bomber heard the voice of Chaud asking with a rather miffed and impatient tone in his voice.

In the real world, just as Lan felt an uneasy feeling crawling up towards his spine again from the stares that both Chaud and Famous were giving him, the feeling was soon forgotten for when he saw a steel-enforced, medium-sized, and yet light box in his rival's hand. "Hey, what's that you got there, Chaud? Is that your lunch box?" the head-banded boy asked his skunk-haired friend with both a curious and yet nervous grin on his face.

That was when he heard an annoyed sigh coming from the vice president of Blaze Quest Games as he spoke, "No, Lan, it's something that I think might be the source of all of the disturbances that's been going on last night. It's something that both me and ProtoMan have found while on our way to one of my father's own merger meetings. It was right behind a dark alley near some trash for when we saw it."

As soon as he heard those words come out of his former rival's mouth, Lan began to think to himself with a sort of clueless look on his face, _"What in the world could Chaud be talking about? I mean, what in the world would cause a guy like him to look around in a pile of garbage that..." _

The young Netbattler's thoughts were soon cut short for when he saw Chaud opening up the steel box and green light started to appear right before his wake. Before he could have the chance to think about what was happening, Lan soon found himself staring at a piece of what appears to be a shard of a Chaos Emerald emitting a green light that wasn't as strong as the one he'd felt before the first time. In the Cyber world, MegaMan and ProtoMan suddenly felt a powerful surge of energy sparking all over throughout the area that they're in. The blue Navi felt his entire body's data being scramble and broken apart as if they could do the best they can to keep together while at the same time feeling the pain.

_"It's just like that feeling back for when both me and Lan found that Chaos Emerald yesterday," _MegaMan thought to himself just as he did his best to endure the pain that came along with the energy before realizing what it was before realizing what he just thought about. _"A Chaos Emerald! If that's what both me and ProtoMan are feeling right now, then that would mean that one is nearby!" _

Back in the real world, Lan was too amazed at the fact that the last piece of the Chaos Emerald was right in front of his face that he didn't hear the numerous commotion being emitted from the outside of the office. _"Just how in the world did Chaud manage to get the last piece of the Chaos Emerald?" _the boy thought to himself just as he continued to watch the emerald shard that's in the holding box that Chaud's holding. _"Not only that, but how did he manage to keep it safe all this time without either Miguel, Sylphiel, or even those crazy green pirate ghosts knowing about it?" _

Just before he could think about anything else, the head-banded boy heard the voice of Famous saying to Chaud with a amazed and astonished tone in his voice, "Chaud, just where in the world did you managed to find a stone that emits this much power! The power that came from Bass doesn't even come close to what's causing the equipment right here to go haywire!"

As soon as he heard those words, Lan began to turn his attention away from the Chaos Emerald shard and saw that the electrical equipment that Famous has in his office was starting to overload with the energy that the emerald shard was emitting. From the way that cracks were appearing in the office, the boy knew that they would eventually blow up. That was when he finally snapped himself out of his shocked state and shouted out, "Chaud! Close the lid of that box right now! Trust me!"

He knew that the older NetBattler would be a bit relunctant to follow orders from a boy younger than him, but he also knew that now wasn't the time to argue. The light soon subsided and everything electronic within the area began to turn back to normal for as soon as Chaud closed the steel box. "Lan! What happened! I was cut off from the PET again!" he heard the voice of MegaMan saying to him with a rather panicked and worried tone in his voice. "It's just like yesterday for when the Chaos Emerald first appeared!"

The head-banded boy was soon in a panic for when he heard those words come out of his Navi's mouth. Just before he could have the chance to speak or scold MegaMan about what he just shouted out, Lan soon heard the voice of the skunk-haired vice president saying to him with both a curious as well as a serious tone in his voice, "Chaos Emerald? Lan, is there something that both you and MegaMan haven't been telling us? Do you know something about that green gem shard that we don't know about?"

As soon as he heard those words, the boy feeling both afraid and nervous for when he found himself being stared at by both Famous and Chaud with even more suspicious looks on their faces. As for MegaMan, he was sort in the same situation for when ProtoMan was staring at him like he was a harden criminal or something. "MegaMan, what really happened to the two of you yesterday for when you've went to Dentech Academy? It seems to me that you know all about that field that caused both of our bodies to malfunction like they did before."

The blue Navi felt so small for when he saw he saw red armored and silver-haired navi going up towards him like a giant. Back in the real world, Lan was sort of in the same situation with both Famous and Chaud as they both continued to look at him with the suspicious looks that they've kept on their faces. _"Boy, am I in for it now," _the head-banded Netbattler thought to himself while at the same time thinking of a way to get out of the situation that he's in now. _"How am I going to get myself out of this mess? Boy, would I like nothing more than to have something that would cut in on this situation that MegaMan got us into."_

As if to answer his silent prayers, Lan suddenly heard the sounds of loud sirens beginning to sound all around his commander's private office. Then the boy saw the huge screen behind Famous starting to come to life and before he knew it, he was looking at the huge image of the face of the learder of the Net Police Commissioner Kifune.

"Famous! Please turn on the surveillance video and watch what's happening on the surveillance right now!" he heard the older adult saying to everyone while at the same turning his full attention towards both Famous and Chaud who were facing their eyes towards another monitor that he didn't notice up until now before he silently thanked whatever force had answered his thoughts. Before he knew it, he was staring at a group of what appears to be attacking viruses appearing out of nowhere and attacking the entire city block with numerous attacks.

"A horde of virues is attacking the shopping district of the city!" he heard the head commissioner saying to all of them while at the same time sounding very serious. "We don't know who or what is behind these viruses's sudden appearance, but we have reason to believe that this might be the work of the same person that was responsible for the huge disturbance that was over Dentech Academy last night.

"Lan. Chaud. I want the both of you to get over there and tried rid these viruses as soon as possible before innocent bystanders get hurt! Also, if possible, see if you could find the one responsible for this phenomenon. Contact Mr. Famous to dispatch a Dimensional Area for as soon as two of you arrived at the..."

Just before he could allow the chief to finish those words, Lan began to quickly latch on his skates to the bottom of his shoes and skated his way out of the building while at the same time avoiding anyone who were in the way.

_"The shopping district is where Yai told me that she's planning to hang out with Miguel and Sylphiel as well as the Chaotix last night!" _Lan said in a panic while trying his best to get to the area that he heard Kifune talking about while forgetting about what Chaud and Famous would do to him if they found out that he just rushed to the scene without their consent. _"Man, those viruses sure do pick a bad time to appear in the real world. But there's no Dimensional Area that could possibly allowed them to come from the Cyber world. And there's no sight of any Asteroid Navis that would be the cause of this since the Duo incidents. So what's the cause of all of this?" _

As soon as he finished those thoughts, the boy began to hear the voice of his Net Navi saying to him with a rather relieved and yet worried tone in his voice, "Thanks for jacking me out, Lan. I mean, the look that ProtoMan was giving me was starting to give me the creeps. But now that's the least of our worries. Just what was that weird energy that both me and ProtoMan felt for when it happened? It's just like the same feeling that I had for when I was near the Chaos Emerald."

"Well, you're not going to believe this, MegaMan. As it turns out, Chaud managed to get the last piece of the Chaos Emerald," Lan responded to MegaMan with a sort of exhausted voice while at the same time keeping his eyes on the road ahead of him. "What I'm really concerned about is how was he able to surpress its great energy for so long without either Miguel or Sylphiel knowing about it. I just hope that the wrong person didn't sense and trace it to wherever it came from. But right now, a huge army of viruses just broke out of nowhere and are attacking near the shopping district where Yai told us that's she going to take them."

"How could I forget a thing like that, Lan?" he heard MegaMan saying to him with a rather thoughtful tone in his voice. "It was right after our little unexpected conversation with the Chaotix right before we went to bed."

** Flashback **

As soon as he cut off his comminucation with the aliens, Lan started to sigh in relief, confusion, and annoyance for when he said to his Navi friend, "Man! Now what was that all about! When did those nosy aliens started to butt into my own personal life like that, MegaMan!"

"Hey, I'm just as confused and annoyed about this as you are, Lan!" he heard MegaMan saying to him with the same annoyed and confused tone in his voice. "I mean, who are they for when it comes to our personal relationships with both Roll and Maylu!"

"You could say that again, MegaMan," Lan said to his friend while starting to calm himself down as he started to lie back down on his bed while still trying to calm the red blush on his face. "Man, how could things like this get any weirder or worse?"

As if to answer his question, he heard a sudden beeping coming from his P.E.T. and just as soon as he answered, Lan saw the image of his rich friend Yai smile at him for when she said with her usual cheery tone, "Hey Lan! How's it going? I just thought that you would like to come with me to the shopping district along with Maylu, Miguel, Sylphiel, and the Chaotix."

As soon as he heard those words come out of Yai's mouth, the head-banded netbattler soon began to become a bit annoyed for when he heard the Chaotix were going along with Yai on her trip to the shopping district as well. Now, normally Lan would just try to be as polite as possible in order to keep himself from acting rude. But like his usual self that didn't quite use his head for when he's in these type of situations, the boy began to quickly say to his rich friend while sounding like that he was in a hurry, "I'm so sorry, Yai! But I have to go to the Net Police HeadQuarters to help Chaud fill out some paperwork! Bye!"

**End Flashback **

"Man, from the way that you lied to Yai and hung up on her, it would've made anyone think that you have a big test coming up at school," the blue Navi responded to his NetOp with a rather smart aleck tone in his voice just as Lan continued to skate through the streets.

"Now's not the time to act like a smart aleck, MegaMan!" the boy responded to his blue friend with a rather annoyed tone just as he passed by some developing traffic in the streets by the sidewalk. "I mean, you would panick too if you just found out that the very guys that asked you about your relationship with one of your best friends were going along with Yai. I mean, can you imagine how many questions that they would ask if we were to come along?"

"Well, let's just forget all about that for now and get over there to see if all of the everyone is alright before something terrible happens," he heard MegaMan saying to him while going as fast as he can to the scene that was happening in the shopping district. "With all of those viruses out there in the real world, our problems are the least of our worries."

"You're right, MegaMan. We have to get there to stop those viruses before anyone in the area gets hurt," Lan said to his Navi friend while at the same time checking to see if he still has his Synchro Chip within his pocket just in case of any emergencies. "But one thing's been bothering me. Just what in the world is causing all of these viruses to appear in the real world?"

While watching everything from its home dimension, Nightmare Parasite Chaos watched as it saw its werewolf servant Dilgear along with its green ghostly minions searching throughout the city unnoticed by its residents. Before it could have the chance to smile to itself about what its undead minions were doing, the creature suddenly sensed the presence of a Chaos Emerald's energy bursting from out of nowhere.

_"Hmmmm. A human must have found the remaining shard of the emerald and was somehow able to surpress its great energies up until now," _Nightmare Parasite thought to itself as it wondered about the situation that just presented itself. _"But judging from the way that the energy is flowing from the shard, I'd say that the human of that world doesn't know the full extent of what it's power could really do. Not only that, but he or she is unwittingly breaking the barriers of not only their world, but of that realm called the Cyber world as well. I wonder what's going on in that world now?" _

As soon as it finished with its thoughts, the powerful Chaos clone used its great mental abilities to create another bubble screen that's showing another scene. What the creature saw next caused its three green eyes to turn their full atttention towards it. Nightmare Parasite saw that the creatures from the Cyber world had somehow managed to cross over from their own world to the human world while also attacking the city streets like wild animals.

_"Hmmm. Now this is getting interesting," _the red and black creature thought to itself just as it continued to stare at the scene of the beings from the Cyber World continuing to decimate the city buildings as well as beginning to attack any humans who were unlucky enough to nearby. _"It seems that those creatures from the Cyber realm are acting very wildly for as soon as they entered into a world foreign to their own. Now, they're attacking the entire city while at the same time attacking innocent humans that are so unfortunate to be in the area. I wonder if those two humans Miguel and Sylphiel have sensed the remaining shard's energy yet? Not only that, but did they even sense the presence of their friend Shadow as well as his new lover yet? If they managed to find each other, then they would certainly be a big thorn to my plans." _

With those thoughts done in its mind, Nightmare Parasite began to once again use its great mental abilities in order to increase its range between both time and space. As soon as it did, the Chaos clone began to mental speak with a rather stern tone in its mind's voice, _"Shade, have either you, the werewolf, or anyone one of his men have found the shard of the Chaos Emerald as well as either those two foolish genetic parents of yours yet? I'm starting to grow impatient." _

As it waited for a response, the creature began to hear the mental voice of its loyal creation saying to him with a rather calm and obedient tone, _"I'm afraid that neither myself, Dilgear, or his men have found the emerald shard that you seek, Lord Parasite. However, I did sense a rather strong disturbance in this world's dimensional fabric. It would seem that some rather strange creatures have entered from another realm and is now beginning to ravage the city. Do you want me to step in and help the werewolf and his pirate minions in their search for the emerald?" _

Nightmare Parasite begin to think to itself for a moment about the option that its human/vampire creation just offered. It could allow Shade to intervene with the situation that was starting to stir up in the world that he was looking at. It would be rather interesting to see how the two humans responsible for its very first defeat would handle the powerful vampire that was made from their own flesh and blood. But soon Nightmare Parasite decided against the thought. It wasn't a very bright idea for Shade to confront his own biological parents real soon.

_"No, not just yet, Shade,"_ the Chaos clone responded to his vampire creation with the stern tone never leaving its mind's voice. _"I just want for you to keep a close eye on Dilgear and his men to see if they're doing their job. Not only that, but I would also like for you to keep a close eye on both of your genetic parents. Just be sure that if any humans of that world send in their military forces to interfere, step in and eliminate them." _

_"As you wish, my Lord," _it heard Shade responding mentally to his creator just before the creature cut off its psychic link with its vampire creation just as it continued to stare at the scene that was shown on the two bubble screens in front of it.

That was when it began to sense the presence of another powerful entity beginning to enter the room that it was in now. "So, Air Jay, what brings you to to this place?" Nightmare Parasite said to the teenaged-human known as Air Jay just as it turns its full attention away from the bubble screens and towards the raven-haired male.

"I'm only here because the old man told me to tell you that he just started experimenting with the Bras Demons that we've defeated and captured, Jello Mold," the raven-haired teen answered to the powerful Chaos clone with a rather annoyed tone in his voice. "Damn that old bastard! As soon as both me and Maliska finished rounding up those ugly things, he tells me to come see you in order to let you know all about it. Now, would there be anything else that you would like to know, Lord Parasite?"

"Hopefully something that won't be able to get Lord Parasite all riled up and mad about," the powerful creature heard the voice of the young red-haired female named Maliska saying to her companion while at the same time seeing her appear out of nowhere just before she spoke again. "We've already finished rounding up a large group of Bras Demons as best as we could, Lord Parasite. We've managed to gather a large group of them as you and Master Diol requested. But I've got to say that they weren't a match for both me and Air Jay for when the two of us approached them."

"You could sure say that again, babe," Nightmare Parasite heard the voice of the long-haired young man saying to the fiery haired young woman with disappointed look on his face. "I mean the ugly bastards charged at us with their claws and fangs bared at us, but as soon as we launched our attacks, they never stand a chance."

"That's because both of your bodies have been give great enhancements thanks to Professor Diol's gained knowledge of genetics," the black and red liquid creature responded to Air Jay's words with a mild tone in its voice. "I was a bit surprised for when Diol told me that he was going to be picking two human specimens for his very first experiment. I just didn't think that the humans that he had in mind would be the two of you."

"Well for once, I have to agree with you, man," the young black-haired responded to him with a calm and bored tone in his voice. "I mean, I was a bit curious on how the old man was able to pick Maliska of all the women he could've chose from. He should've at least pick a babe that's nicely grown has the biggest pair of..."

Just before it could hear the last words coming out of Air Jay's mouth, Nightmare Parasite saw a beam of blue energy appearing out of nowhere and shot towards the teen's direction, barely missing an inch of his long black hair. That was when the creature saw that that Maliska was holding her hand out with a blue energy aura being emitted from it with a rather angry and annoyed expression on her face just as it saw that the floor that she saw was instantly frozen solid. Just as soon as it saw Air Jay turning towards her direction, Nightmare Parasite began to hear him saying as it saw flames enveloping his entire hand, "Hey, bitch! I'd watch where you'd throw those beams of ice if I were you! Otherwise, some people might think of you as a real ice queen! Not to mention the fact that you'll get burned for pulling that stunt!"

Before it realized what was happening, the liquid creature soon saw a huge fiery battle aura enveloping Air Jay's body. The same went with Maliska as Nightmare Parasite saw a large light blue energy aura appearing all across her womanly body. Just before the two of them could have the chance to charge at each other, the creature suddenly heard a sort of insane laughter coming out of nowhere. That was when the Chaos clone began to sense something that made it want to smile with pleasure if it had a mouth to do so.

_"I see that Shogar is already back from his mission," _Nightmare Parasite thought to itself just as he saw a huge dark shadow beginning to appearing on the floor and a hand jumped from it and touched Maliska's rear. _"I really hope that he was able to get the items that I've requested for our 'special guest.' Diol seems so interested for when I've first brought the doctor to this realm. The good doctor become more than enthusiatic about the offer that I've made to him for when I've told him all about the secret pasts of his enemies." _

As soon as it finished its thoughts, the creature was finally able to hear the frighten shriek of Maliska as it saw her jumping away from the shadow and ran towards Air Jay. As it saw her glomping the long-haired teen for protection, Nightmare Parasite soon saw the dark black shadow taking form and soon after that, Shogar's full form and body finally materialized with his huge menacing grin appearing on it's huge face.

"Hee! Hee! Hee! Well, it seems that the girl is still a bit shy about being touched on that spot!" the creature heard its dark phantom creation with a sly and evil grin on his face while at the same time seeing its four other living long arms moving about lively.

As soon as it heard Shogar finish speaking, Nightmare Parasite soon heard an angry growl coming from both Air Jay and Maliska's direction. It saw the red-haired female pushing her raven-haired companion off of her and began to say to Shogar with a not so pleasant tone, "Why you! Just because you're one of the three generals, it doesn't give you the right to touch my ass! The only person that I'd expect this type of thing from is Air Jay!"

"Well gee, it's good to know when I'm being appreciated," Air Jay responded to Maliska's words with a sarcastic tone in his voice while at the same time feeling like he was turned down by a girl.

Just before it could allow either Maliska or Shogar to speak again, Nightmare Parasite decided to break up the situation by putting up an energy barrier around each of them while saying, "That's enough out of all of you. The last thing that we would want is for a war to break out right before the one we were going to launch is about to be begin. Now Shogar, I'm to assume that you've managed to get what I've asked for?"

"Oh, I did my lord," the creature heard the ghostly phantom replying to in a very mechanical and yet loyal tone while at the same time lowing the energy shield around him just before it saw the ghostly creature presenting a huge blue energy sphere within one of his four arms' hands. "I've got all of the data that you required of the robotic beings that are called Reploids, Lord Parasite. Ones that have been considered traitors or 'Mavericks' as they prefer to call them. It should be more than enough for our special guest to keep himself entertained. Though, I'm a bit disappointed for when I've encountered one of them and he didn't put up much of a challenge for me. But I'm sure that our guest would find a way to make these machines much more interesting."

"That's excellent work, Shogar," Nightmare Parasite said to its creation with a pleased tone while at the same time accepting the blue sphere of energy with the use of its psychic energy to levitate it towards its direction and landed the sphere towards its hands. "I'm sure that the doctor would be more than pleased with all of the data that this very sphere contains. You may go now and rest up your energy while keeping a watch at Shade's younger brothers and sisters until he returns."

With those words said and done, the creature saw Shogar fading into the darkness and is now out of sight. As soon as he sensed the ghost's presense out of the area, Nightmare Parasite then released both Air Jay and Maliska from the energy field that it surrounded them with. "Hey man! What's the big deal!" it heard the black-haired teen saying to it with a rather miffed tone in his voice while the creature turned its full attention back towards the bubble like monitors behind its own makeshift throne to see the chaos in the world continue. "I mean, I know for a fact that the perverted shadow creature went to another world just to get some info on these mechanical beings named Reploids. Just who is this doctor that you keep telling us about?"

"Well, Air Jay, all would be revealed to you and the others as soon as Shade and Dilgear return from their own missions," Nightmare Parasite responded to the long-haired and raven colored teen with a calm tone in his voice. "In the meantime, I would suggest that the two of you just stay here with me to watch events unford as that foolish human and his friends deal with the powerful occurances that are starting to develope in the world that they're in. I wonder how in the world would they deal with the beings that came from the Cyber World? I guess that we'll know soon enough. Hee! Hee! Hee!"

As she along withYai and a newly-dressed Maylu were walking across the streets in order to get to the arcade, Sylphiel was still feeling a bit embarrassed for having to dress as she is now. The shrine maiden looked at herself and blushed for when she saw what she was wearing. She wore a rather nice and elegant yellow sleeveless sundress with it's skirt near her knees. She also is carrying a bright pink, huge, and nicely-designed bag that also contained her regular priestess gown, boots, and other under garments and accessories that she usually carries as well as another set of cloths that Yai got her to purchase. She also wore a nice pair of perfectly matching heeled shoes that were just about her feet's size.

The shrine maiden panicked at first for when she found that the near-completed Chaos Emerald was still in her regular outfit but soon calmed down for when she checked that it was still there along with her personal belongings. The skin of her shoulders pretty much revealing that she is in fact a rather attractive young woman. She was even able to listen to some men passing by saying how pretty she looked or how much of a goddess she looked.

Of course, her case was unlike that of Maylu's who she wearing a decent white dress with sleeves along with a yellow over sweater of sorts that also comes with a beautiful matching hat with a beautiful sun flower design on it. Sylphiel saw that the red-haired girl's face was just as flushed as her own. However, it was not only that of embarrassment or flattery but of jealousy towards Sylphiel as well. _"I'm betting that Maylu is starting to feel as self conscious about the way she looks almost as much as I do," _the shrine maiden thought to herself just as she continued to walk towards the streets in order to get to the arcade where Miguel and the Chaotix would be waiting. _"I mean, I could tell from the look on her face that she has a crush on that boy, Lan. Not only that, but she seems to be rather jealous for when she saw Lan blushing near me last night. I mean, a young girl like her falling for a boy at her age so soon. But then again, who am I to judge for when it was I who's having problems of the heart with...?" _

Just before she could have the chance to finish the rest of her thoughts, Sylphiel began to notice a hand waving in front of her face. That was when she soon noticed that the hand in front of her was that of the young girl Yai while hearing her saying, "Hello! Earth to Sylphiel! Are you paying attention!"

As soon as she heard those coming from the blonde little girl, the shrine maiden began to speak to her with a rather flustered voice, "Oh, I'm sorry Miss Yai! I was just thinking of other things."

"Those things wouldn't have to do with that guy Miguel now will it?" she heard the voice of the girl Maylu saying to her with a mischievous tone.

Sylphiel soon began to blush with a red shade on her face just as she heard those words coming from the red-haired girl's mouth. That was when she heard Yai adding to her older friend's words by saying with the same mischievous tone, "Oooohh! I bet that she is! You were thinking about Miguel, weren't you? Is it about what the two of you did last night for when you're in the same bed sleeping together?"

That was when the shrine maiden began to finally become even more flustered and embarrassed for when she heard those words coming out of the little girl. Just as she was trying her best to hold out the blush that was surrounding her face, Sylphiel heard the voice of Maylu saying with a rather excited tone in his voice, "Oh my god! Sylphiel, is that true! Did you really sleep with Miguel? What did you two do while you were in bed? Did you snuggle up and wrap your arms around each other in order to keep yourselves 'warm'?"

The last comment was the very thing that finally set her off. The normally calm and polite shrine maiden began to face towards the two young girls with a rather flustered and annoyed tone in her voice as she yelled out, "The two of you please knock it off! What I do with Miguel in bed is none of your business! So just keep your comments to yourselves and be quiet!"

As soon as she shouted out those words, Sylphiel began to take a moment in order to gather air into her lungs in order try to calm down. Just as she felt her frustration melting away, the shrine maiden turned her full attention back towards the two young girls and saw the frighten and shocked expressions on each of their faces. Not only that, but when she turned her full attention towards the crowds of people nearby, Sylphiel saw that every eye was pointed towards her direction. She could even hear one of the people in the area saying, "What in the world is her problem? She looked as though she just did something bad or something."

The shrine maiden began to become filled with embarrassment for when she saw that everyone was looking at her as if she were some wacko. _"This is just great!" _she thought to herself just as she felt every face in the public eyeing her. _"Here I am being bothered by two girls that accused me of making out with Miguel in bed last night! Making out in bed? Just where in Ciephied's name did I get that from? Whatever that is, I just hope that..." _

Just before she could have the chance to finish the rest of her thoughts in embarrassment, Sylphiel soon heard the terrifying scream of a young woman from the distance that made her completely forget about the embarrassment that she was in. "What in the world was that!" she heard the voice of Yai shouting out just as the shrine maiden turned to see where the source of the scream was.

As soon as she looked at where the terrified woman was screaming from, the shrine maiden saw not only one, but about dozens of people running for their lives like a wild stampede of horses. Just before she could allow any of the people to plow over them or even realize what she was doing, Sylphiel took this last second chance to grab both of the young girls in her strong arms and began to run towards an open but abandoned alley which thankfully had no people heading in that place despite the fact that she's wearing healed shoes. She was even able to carry her pink bag despite the weight that both girls put on her. Just as soon she got Yai, Maylu, and herself within the alley, the young woman looked at the two of them with a worried expression just as she said to them, "Are the two of you alright?"

The shrine maiden then turned her attention away from the frighten young girls for a moment and turned to see a huge amount of people running like a wild herd of bulls while hearing Maylu saying to her with a rather surprised and shocked tone in her voice, "We're both fine, Sylphiel. But what was all that about? Why were all those people suddenly starting to run blindly towards us as if they were running from a monster?"

Before she could have the chance to respond to the red-haired girl's question, she heard the voice of Yai responding to them with a rather miffed and yet tired tone in her voice, "I've just thought about something! What if it were those people saw what the Chaotix really were?"

Those words that she heard the young blonde saying began to make her panic. Sylphiel was about to say something about the situation before she felt a powerful surge of energy beginning to erupt to where they're at. _"This energy! It's so powerful!" _the shrine maiden thought to herself just as she began to scan the not so dark alley to see where the energy source came from. _"Not only that, but it seems that there's a large amount of life forms emitting this type of power coming this way. Just what in the world are these things that are emitting the Chaos Energy that I'm sensing right now? Whatever they are, the creatures that are emitting it are somewhere near..."_

Just before she could have the chance to finish the rest of her thoughts, Sylphiel heard the sudden frighten shrieks of both Yai and Maylu appearing out of nowhere. Just as the young woman turned towards the girls' direction, she saw something that she never thought that she would ever see since yesterday. What the shrine maiden saw were the same group of green pirate spirit creatures that she saw before Miguel had blown them away using the power of his own Ra-Tilt spell.

"Arrr! It looks as though were right on the money for when we've sensed that great amount of energy being emitted around here, mateys!" she heard the voice of the leader of the group of spirits saying while at the same time revealing another pack of ghost appearing behind his back just before she saw him turning towards her direction. "Well fellas, looks like we've got ourselves a lovely young woman right here! The dress that she's wearing makes her a real treasure to behold. What do you say that we have a little fun with her and her young friends as soon as we turn the Chaos Emerald that they possessed over to Master Dilgear."

"Girls please get out of the way!" Sylphiel shouted out towards the two girls with a rather serious tone in her voice while at the same time throwing her huge pink bag to them before beginning to make her own magical sword of fire appear out of her hand and using both her hands to aim its blade towards the ghostly group. "I'm going to try my best to hold them off while you to get away with the emerald! Go now!"

"But Sylphiel, what about...?" was all that she could hear from Maylu just before she noticed one of the green pirates starting to advance towards her direction at a great speed with its sword in the pirate's hands that looked as if it were ready to strike and slash at her with his glowing green blade along with a menacing grin on his face.

Just before she would allow the pirate to slash or touch his blade towards any part of her body, Sylphiel managed to block the assault with the the fiery blade of her magical sword while trying to keep her feet in balance with the heeled-shoes that she's wearing. Just as she tried her best to keep her strength on trying to keep pirate's blade at bay, the shrine maiden took a moment to look where both Maylu and Yai were and saw the two of them beginning to run for their lives just as soon as they saw that they were in immediate danger. Just as she saw them going out of sight, Sylphiel soon began to push the pirate back with her weapon and once again swing her fiery blade towards the direction at her attacker in order to get ready for another assault.

Just as he was continuing playing a random fighting game that he wasn't quite familiar with, Miguel was just starting to get the hang of it for when he heard a huge cheer coming from the direction where he last saw Vector playing. It was about two hours since they've started to explore and play around at the arcade and he heard that the Chaotix were already starting to attract attention. As soon as he purposely lost the game that he was playing, the teen began to walk over to where he last saw the green croc. As it turns out, he found that the green Mobian along Espio, who has a rather annoyed and yet flustered expression on his face, dancing on a symbol platform that's apart of a game that's a dance game of sorts.

_"Just like those two Dance-Dance Revolutions booth games that I've seen from the arcade back in my world," _Miguel thought to himself just as he saw the huge crowd of kids and teens seeing two members of the Chaotix dancing to the music that the arcade game emitted. _"Of course, if anyone around here saw me doing that on the arcade machine, then I would be the laughing stock of not only my world, but this one as well. But it seems that Vector and Espio are having fun. Well, Vector is anyway. Espio looks like a nervous wreck out there after a few hours of trying to get the hang of it. I wonder how both Charmy and Mighty are doing anyway?" _

As if to answer his thought's question, the teen turned to see that both the young bee and the armadillo playing an air hockey game of some kind. From the way that Miguel saw the two Mobians playing with one another, he could tell that the game could go either way. Mighty seemed to be in the defensive while Charmy was using speed to his advantage. He chuckled as the two groups of Mobians seemed to attract a rather nice crowd of kids and teens that noticed their presense.

Miguel even managed to hear one young girl saying, "Wow! Can you believe those guys, Britney? Those guys in the animal costumes sure know how to put on some good moves! Their costumes aren't so bad either!"

"You could say that again, Diana!" he heard the voice of the young girl's friend Britney saying to her friend as he continued to look at the Chaotix doing their separate things. "I mean, that green talking croc that's dancing with the purple lizard looks so cool with those head phones on his head and the golden chain around his neck! He's so awesome!"

"Hey, let's not forget that purple lizard, Brit," he heard the other girl named Diana saying to her friend while at same time turning to see both Mighty and Charmy beginning to once again start another game of the air hockey game that they were playing. "He has that mysterious and cool look going for him. But I think that the bee is the cutest among them. I could just go up to the little thing and give him a hug right now like a teddy bear!"

The last comment that he heard from the girl named Diana caused the teen to chuckle a bit with a amused tone. _"Looks to me that the Chaotix are becoming the most popular gang in the arcade here," _Miguel thought to himself just as he continued to look at the groups of two that the four Mobians formed as he also looked in his pocket to find some tokens still in his pocket. _"I guess that I could just play a bit more before the girls would get back from their shopping spree. I wonder how Sylphiel would look in the beautiful modern day cloths of this world? I guess that no matter what she wears, she'll always look beautiful in my eyes..."_

That was when the teen began to snap himself out of his dream-like state just enough to find out what he just thought before thinking to himself again, _"What the hell was I thinking! How could I be thinking about something like at a time like this! I mean, we should be out there looking for the last piece of the Chaos Emerald and not playing games! Why am I feeling this weird towards the thought of Sylphiel having a new beautiful dress anyway? I mean, this doesn't mean that I have the sudden hots for her...does it?"_

As he tried to think of a reason as to why he was feeling a bit flustered about mere thought of the shrine maiden in a beautiful modern outfit that would make her something that would be hard to ignore. Just before he could have the chance to re-think about what he thought, Miguel felt the finger of someone trying to get his attention. As he turned to face who it was, the teen found that Vector was right near him with a sort of worried and curious expression on his face.

"Yo, Miguel. Are you alright?" the green Mobian asked the teen with both a concerned tone in his voice. "You seem to be spacin' out every few minutes for whenever you tried to decide on what other game you should play. You wouldn't happen to be thinkin' about Sylphiel, would you?"

As soon as he heard those words, Miguel suddenly panicked for as he tried to come up with an answer to Vector's question. After what seemed to be like an hour to him, the teen found that he couldn't find a single idea that would get him out of the awkward situation that he's now in. As he tried to look around to find anything that would allow him to change the subject, Miguel soon found like about two dozen sets of young teenaged eyes staring at him, along with Espio, Charmy, and Mighty, with both curiosity and anticipation showing in each of their eyes.

_"Oh great! Now what am I going to do?" _he thought to himself just as he continued to feel the stares of the Chaotix as well as the crowds of teens and children staring right at him. _"I just had to space out for whenever I think about Sylphiel! This is so humiliating! I wish that there was something that could get me out of this rather awkward situation. But since there isn't one, I might as well suck it up and take my lumps like a..." _

Just as he was about to finish the rest of his thoughts, Miguel suddenly felt a sudden jolt of power flowing through his body. This in turn caused him to shiver as if he were in the middle of a snow storm. As soon as he did that, the teen heard the murmurs and whispers of the crowds beginning to talk amongst themselves as they saw him continuing to shiver because of the power that he's feeling.

_"Just what in the hell is this power that I'm feeling?" _he thought to himself just as he rubbed his hands onto his arms in order to cease the shivering. _"It's like nothing that I've ever felt from last night. However, the energy that I'm feeling is very similair to a Chaos Emer..."_

That was all that Miguel could think of before he heard the loud terrified shriek of a woman appearing out of nowhere. Just as the teen began to turn towards the direction where he heard the scream coming from along with the now panicked crowd, he felt his arm being tugged rather hasty and quickly away from the crowd as he continued to figure out what was going on. He heard the voice of the woman in charge of the arcade trying her best to calm the frighten and curious teens and some of the kids were soon paying attention to whatever was happening outside of the building through the windows. As soon as he turned towards whoever was tugging at his arm, Miguel soon saw that it was Vector, along with the rest of the Chaotix, dragging him away from the scene so as to get away from the crowd that was beginning to get too big for comfort.

Just as soon as he found himself and his Mobian friends in a spacious and yet abandaned part of the arcade, the teen began to hear Mighty saying to him as he continued to feel the rather cold draft crawling all over his body, "Hey what's up, Miguel? Are you feeling chilly from the AC around here or something?"

"It's not that, Might," he responded with a steady tone despite the fact that he felt as if he were in the middle of Winter weather without a sweater on. "It's just that I'm feeling some sort of strange and yet frightening energy being released into this world. It's as if someone or something has ripped a dimensional hole into this world."

"Whoa! You could tell all that?" he heard the young voice of Charmy saying to him with an amazed tone just before he spoke again in a much quieter tone of voice. "Did something like this happened to you before?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, yes, Charmy," Miguel responded while still maintaining a rathering steady tone in his voice while trying to shaking off the chill that's still on his body. "It happened for when I was in Sylphiel's world a while back. It seems that I have this ability to sort of feel the presense of harmful and dark energy being emitted by a nearby enemy. As it turns out, the being that I've felt at the time was a monster called Xellos who was spying on us. However, as to why he's doing so or what he is exactly, it's a different and long story."

"So what is it that you're feeling right now, Miguel?" he heard Espio asking him with both a curious and serious tone in his voice just as he turned to see the purple chameleon looking all around the area in order to see what was the cause for the surge of energy that the human teen felt.

"Well, to be honest, Espy, I'm not too sure," Miguel responded to the Mobian just as he felt the incredible chilling surge of power suddenly cease from his body. "But whatever it was, it seemed to have stopped flowing through my body and that's usually not a good thing."

"Yo, what do you mean by that, Miguel?" he heard Mighty ask with a rather curious and yet worried tone in his voice as the teen was finally able to regain the normal feeling in temperature.

"Well, whatever was emitting the energy that's causing my body to have a chill either pulled a disappearing act," Miguel responded to the armadillo while beginning to worry about what's going to happen before speaking again. "Or it means that the thing that caused the energy is already nearby. I just don't know where it is or what caused it."

"Well, that's just swell!" he heard Vector saying as the teen noticed that the crocodile was trying to keep his voice down in order to keep anyone from the crowd from noticing their absence. "Just what in the world would cause a guy like you to shiver like it was the middle of Winter?"

As if to respond to the green Mobian's question, Miguel suddenly heard the terrified screaming from earlier suddenly raising to panic as he turned to see the kids beginning to exit the building rather quickly.

"Looks like we'll be able to get our answer from the outside, guys," he heard Vector saying to the rest of the Chaotix while at the same time seeing all four Mobians beginning to run out towards the exit where the crowd of teens and kids went through earlier.

Just as he ran after the Chaotix in order to find the source of the disturbance, Miguel suddenly found himself outside and saw something that he really didn't expect. What the teen saw rampaging through the streets were a group of what appears to be viruses from the Cyber World attacking the streets. The same kind of viruses that he usually sees in the game or the anime. Metools, Jellies, Spookies, Boomers, and viruses of many different types and elements were in the streets in front of them attacking and destroying everything that got in their path.

"Yo, just what in the world are those things, Miguel?" he heard the voice of Vector saying to him with a rather surprised tone in his voice. "Is all of this what you've felt for when you were having the shivers from before?"

Just as soon as he heard those words come out of the crocodile's mouth, Miguel began to hear the voice of Espio saying to his friend while turning to see the purple chameleon taking out a metalic ninja star from within his gloves, "Well, I would definitely place money that these are the things that Miguel had sensed from before. From the way that those creatures are reacting towards this city, I'd say that they're not too happy about being here."

"But just where exactly did these things come from anyway?" he heard the young voice of Charmy saying to his friends while continuing to look at the carnage that the viruses are causing. "I mean, they couldn't have just appeared out of nowhere. They had to come from someplace."

"Well, I honestly don't know where those things come from, Charms, but I bet that the power of the Chaos Emerald is responsible for all of this," he heard Mighty saying to the young bee with a rather uneasy tone while he turned to see the black and orange Mobian facing towards his direction. "Miguel, do you have any idea where these things come from? I mean, the four of us aren't experienced in traveling to other worlds as much as you do."

Just before he could have the chance to answer the armadillo's words, the teen heard the angry roar of the nearby viruses starting to take notice of their presence and then turned towards their direction. As he saw one of the Metools starting to go up towards them with a powerful swarm of shockwaves aimed towards their direction with the help of the picks they have in their possession.

"Guys, hold onto me real tight! Now!" Miguel shouted out to the Chaotix with a panicked tone in his voice while at the same time feeling the arms of his Mobian friends starting to immediately hold onto his waist before activating the Chaos Control. "Chaos Control!"

Just before the shockwaves could have the chance to hit their targets, the teen found himself along with his four Mobian friends began traveling through a tunnel that goes through both time and space to a random place. As soon as he felt both himself and his friends beginning to drop somewhere at a random location that happens to be the rooftops of Dentech City.

"Whew! Thanks for gettin' us out of there, bud," he heard the grateful voice of Vector saying to him with a sigh of relief. "You got us out of there just before those cute stuff animal things could finish us off. But we could've handled those things by ourselves."

"Vector, now is not the time for you start with that macho act of yours," he heard Espio saying to the croc with a sort of annoyed and serious tone while turning to see the chameleon looking around the area that they're in. "This looks to be the rooftops of Dentech City. From the looks of things here, Miguel warped us here by random. The guy must've panicked really good in order to get us here this soon."

"Espio, now is not the time to start cracking jokes in a time like this," Miguel said to the purple ninja Mobian with a rather serious tone while at the same time seeing what appears to be a pear of Yellowgon dragon-like viruses flying above the city firing electrical beams towards the buildings. "Look at those things, they may look like dragons, but they're actually computer viruses that came from Cyberspace."

"Whoa! Whoa! Are you serious, Miguel?" he heard the voice of Charmy responding to the teen's words with a shocked tone in his young voice. "Are you trying to tell us that those things come from electronical devices! Just how in the world would you know that sort of thing?"

"Never mind on how Miguel would know this sort of thing, Charms. Just look down on the ground and see what I mean," he heard the voice of Mighty responding to the young bee with a rather worried and sort of angry tone just as he turned towards the armadillo's direction and saw the older Mobian pointing towards the edge of the roof where they saw people being terrorized by viruses on the ground.

As soon as he and the rest of the Chaotix saw what Mighty was talking about, the teen turned towards his Mobian friends in order to say something to them before he heard the voice of Sylphiel appear in his mind. _"Get away from me, you disgusting creatures! I said, get away from me!" _he heard the shrine maiden's voice shouting to whoever was attacking her. He then heard to what appears to be like the sounds of pirates growling at her with almost annoyed tones in their voices.

Just as the voices in his mind began to vanish, the teen suddenly heard the worried voice of Vector saying to him, "Yo, Miguel! Are you alright? You look like you've just heard a spooky ghost or something."

When he heard those words said by the green crocodile, Miguel began to speak to all four of the Chaotix with a worried and horrified tone in his voice, "Guys, I think that Sylphiel is in trouble. I can't explain how, but I know that somehow she's in trouble!"

As soon as he said those words, the teen saw the expressions on the four Mobians' faces were that of surprise and shock. Charmy was the first to speak his mind as the young bee spoke with a rather worried tone in his voice, "Whoa! How could you tell that, Miguel? And what about both Yai and Maylu? Aren't they in danger as well?"

"I don't think that they are, Charmy," Miguel responded to the young Mobian with a calm and yet confused tone in his voice just as he thought about what he just heard in his mind. "When I've heard Sylphiel being attacked, I didn't hear the voices of those two from the area that Sylphiel was in. But I do know that she's being attacked by those same green pirates that tried to get the Chaos Emerald last night."

"Whoa! I may not be too familiar with this psychic power thing going on," he heard the voice of Vector saying out loud with a confused and yet confident leader sounding tone. "But I think that we should all act and stop those green ghost pirate things from harming the babe!"

"I don't think that it would be a very easy thing to do, Vec," Miguel heard the voice of Espio saying to the over confident crocodile with a serious tone in his voice just as the human teen saw the purple chameleon looking down on the streets. "The streets are crawling with those computer viruses that are out here in this world causing some serious havoc to the people down there. Well, I for one am not going to just sit here and just let these people get hurt."

"I'm with Espio on this one, Vec," the teen heard Mighty adding to the purple chameleon's words with a bit of determination in his voice. "I'm afraid that we can't just go after Sylphiel while the people down there getting attacked by those computer viruses."

"But what about Sylphiel and the two girls?" he heard the young voice of Charmy saying to everyone while at the same time feeling both worried and concerned. "I mean, we can't just abandon them while those pirates are out there trying to get their hands on the Chaos Emerald."

"That's the reason why I'm going to be the one to look for Sylphiel and girls, you guys," Miguel responded to the Chaotix with a serious tone in his voice while at the same time drawing out the Star Sword placed from within the dimensional place that is his mind. "I would be able to handle anything would dare to get in my way. I want you four to do what you can to help the people of this world from getting hurt by those viruses. At this point, trying to hide our true identities is now the least of our worries."

"Well, when the guy puts it in those words, then I guess that we should just split up and go our separate ways," he heard Vector's voice saying while he turned to see the leader of the Chaotix grabbing their full attention before he spoke up again. "Now, from the way that I sees it, Miguel would be able to take care of himself since he has that sword of his as well as his powers, but the four of us would best to stick together."

"I can't believe that I found myself saying this, but I think that Vector's right about this," Miguel heard Espio responding to the green crocodile's words with a sort of embarrassed tone while at the same time turning to seeing the purple chameleon looking like he was getting ready for a serious fight before speaking up again. "But I don't think that even the four of us put together could take those things down by ourselves. I mean, from the way that they're multiplying, it looks as though that we could be up against an army."

"Well, allow me to fix that then, you guys," the teen responded to Espio's words with a smile on his face just as he rose his weapon's blade up towards the sky, closed his eyes, and began to focus his mind on creating like about four dozen golden Power Rings.

Just as soon as he opened up his eyes, Miguel saw what appears to be about fourty golden and shiny Power Rings hovering right above the sky shining with their golden light. Before he knew what was happening, he saw the many golden rings starting to fly towards the Chaotix's direction. Just as soon as he turned to his four Mobian friends' direction, the teen saw the rings beginning to attach themselves around each of their arms in order make themselves a perfect fit for them to wear. He even saw the rings that attached themselves to Charmy beginning to shrink in order to fit his little arms. Before he knew it, Miguel saw each of them being surrounded by a golden aura of energy flowing all around their bodies before disappearing.

Just as soon as the phenomenon passed, the teen soon heard Vector saying out loud with a rather energized tone, "Whoa! It feels like that my whole body just became super charged with energy that allows me to do anything!"

"You could say that again, Vec!" Miguel heard the voice of Mighty responding to the his friend's words with the same energized tone while turning to see the armadillo beginning to pump up the muscles in his arms. "The power from those rings seemed to have increased my stength by ten-fold. I feel like I could lift an entire building now."

"I agree with you, Might," he heard Espio saying to his friend with the same highten and enthusiatic tone as his two friends. "My legs feel like that they could withstand anything and I could feel muscles starting to bulge out of my arms as well."

"Even I'm feeling more stronger by the minute, guys," Miguel heard the voice of Charmy saying to the three members of the Chaotix just as he turned to see the small bee beginning to grow from normal size to his small one. "It feels like that I could travel around this whole planet at top speed in less than a minute!"

"Well, don't get too excited about it, guys," the teen responded to his four Mobian companions while at the same time putting the Star Sword's blade down towards the ground while not allowing its blade to touch it yet. "The power from those rings would only last for a short time. But it should give each of your natural abilities a good boost. As for how long the effects would last, even I don't know. It could be either for an hour or maybe even more than that depending on how much power that you guys use. Either way, I would suggest that you guys not to waste too much power while you're getting the people to safety."

"No prob, Miguel! Just leave the monsters and the people's safety to us while you go get the girl!" he heard the leader of the Chaotix saying to him with a confident tone while also feeling a bit flustered and embarrassed by his words. "Alright, guys, what are we waiting for? Let's go show those butt-ugly viruses what we're made of!"

"Right!" Miguel heard the answer of Mighty, Espio, and Charmy responding to Vector's words just as the teen saw the four Mobians going over the roof tops of the building and, with the help of Charmy's new awesome strength and flying ability, were able to go down in the streets below where dozens of people were in danger.

As soon as he was by himself, Miguel began to think to himself while at the same time still feeling a bit flushed at what the crocodile said to him, _"Man, does Vector know how to make a guy feel like he's been through an embarrassing moment. At least he doesn't do it in public while trying to get everyone's attention. Well, as best as he could anyway. Now, back onto the mission ahead. I just hope that I'm not too late for me to help Sylphiel before those pirates do anything bad or worst to her."_

With those thoughts said and done, the teen began to concentrate his mind on trying to locate the shrine maiden's own Chaos Energy. After to what appears to be a half hour of trying to sense Sylphiel's own energy, Miguel was finally able to feel a jolt of energy surging throughout his body. _"Bingo! Don't worry, Sylph, help is on the way,"_ was all that the teen thought just before he had his hand on the silver surface of his weapon's blade and began to shout out the words to Shadow the Hedgehog's special ability. "Chaos Control!"

While he was stirring the ingredients that he was preparing for the costumers in the popular restaurant named Number 1 Curry, Dex was just testing out the flavor of his latest creation to see if it would be appropiate to serve to the customers. His little brother, Chisao was getting the orders, along with Count Zap, for the people that wanted to buy what type of curry. As for the rest of the actual owners of the restaurant, Mr. Match just returned from doing his normal daily deliveries through his cart. Maddy was doing all of the dirty dishes that were leftover by the costumers while Yahoot was doing the daily task of managing the money in their savings account that they been making ever since leaving the now non-existant crime organization World Three.

Just as he was about to pour a bowl of curry for the costumers for when he heard the frantic voice of his friend Dingo coming in from the back of the restaurant while screaming his head off and looked like he had just seen a monster or something. "What's the matter with him?" he heard the voice of Mr. Match saying with his usual Scottish accent while at the same time sounding a bit curious about the Indian boy's outburst. "The lad looks s though he's seen a ghost or something."

"Probably knowing the way he aways messes up the deliveries, I'd say that he probably made someone upset for getting their orders late again, as usual," the huge kid heard Maddy saying to the red-haired man while continuing to wash the dishes. "Whoever he was delivering the curry to must be pretty mad if he were to scare the living daylights out of him."

"You're probably right about that, Maddy," Yahoot responded outloud to the young pink-haired woman from his office with a rather stern and calm tone. "You think that after all of the time that he's spent with us, that he'd at least find a way to get to the place where he's suppose to make the delivery."

"From the way that the kid is scared out of his wits, I'd say that he probably deserve what he got for being late," he heard Count Zap saying to his companions with his usual English accent while at the same time feeling a bit confused about what just happened. "What I would like to know is what has gotten Dingo so frighten that he looks like that he's seen a monster."

"Perhaps I should try to talk to him," Dex suggested just as he finished pouring the last batch of delicious curry into the bowl just as he turned towards the direction of where he saw his friend going to. "Someone has to keep the guy from scarin' the pants off of Yahoot before he gets there."

Just as he got away from the pot of curry that he was preparing and headed towards Yahoot's office, the big kid could hear the voice of Dingo shouting like he was a madman. _"He's probably going through the same thing that Higsby going through yesterday," _Dex thought to himself just as he was beginning to grab a glass a water from a nearby sink and continued onto towards his boss's office. _"Maybe the same thing that Miguel did with Higsby would probably work on Dingo too. From the way that he scared out of his mind, he looked like he's seen one of the Chaotix or something." _

The large boy did his best to surpress the thought of thinking that his Indian friend managed to accidently see one of the aliens that he saw from last night while he and his friends were trying to set up for this coming Halloween. Just as he was about to reach the office, Dex immediately heard the frightened and hyper voice of Dingo shouting out random and yet crazy words that no one would understand. "Ahh! Dingo! Would you please just calm down and try to talk straight!" he heard the voice of Yahoot saying to the panicked Indian boy with a rather annoyed tone while the large kid saw Dingo still in a state of panic while causing his boss to accidently drop the bills and budgets onto the floor.

"Black! H-H-H-Hedgehog! Cute Girl! Hugging! K-K-Kissing! Attacking me!" Was what Dex heard his friend saying along with other things that were just either to mixed up or too fast to understand. "Alien Invasion! Green light! W-W-W-World take over!"

"Dingo! Snap out of it, man!" he heard the voice of TomahawkMan saying to his NetOp while at the same time feeling like the only one calm enough to try to handle the situation. "No one in this entire building could hear or understand a single word that you're saying! Just calm down and relax!"

"GutsMan think that Dingo go crazy. Guts," he heard the voice of his navi saying while at the same time feeling the same thing as his NetOp is right now.

"Allow me to handle this one, guys!" Dex said to the Indian type navi bravely as he still held the glass of water in his hand while remembering what the teen Miguel did to Higsby last night in order to calm him down.

As soon as he was within range of Dingo, the large kid began to toss the water over towards his once panicking friend therefore ceasing his crazy actions. Before anyone could have the chance to realize what just happened, Dex soon found his friend now coming back to his full senses as well as regaining his sanity.

"(Cough!) D-Dex! What was (cough!) that for! " he heard the Indian boy saying to him with an annoyed tone while at the same time trying to cough out all of the remaining water that seemed to get into his lungs. "Why did you (cough!) throw all that water at me!"

"Well, it's not like that I've got any choice at the time, Dingo!" the large kid said to his soaking wet friend as he saw him trying his best to dry up while also trying to squeeze all of the water out of his sweater and hood. "You were rambling on like some crazy nut job from the crazy house while at the same time scaring most of our costumers! Just be happy that throwing cold water was the worse that I could do to you or otherwise I'd pound the living daylights out of you!"

"Both of you please calm down and relax for just a moment!" he heard Yahoot saying to the both of them while at the same time still feeling a bit aggitated about what just happened just before calming down himself. "(Sigh!) Now Dingo, what exactly happened that caused you to go on a screaming rampage? Did you happened to miss your delivery rounds again? This better be a good excuse than last time."

As soon as he heard the former Yoga master finish his questions, Dex turned his full attention towards his still soaking wet friend as he heard him saying, "All of you are not going to believe this, but..."

"Well, we're all ears, Dingo. So spill the beans," he heard the voice of Maddy saying to the Indian boy while at the same time seeing both Mr. Match and Count Zap appearing in the hall along with Chisao.

"And make it fast 'cause it looks like our costumers are getting restless and waitin' for their orders," the huge kid heard the red-haired adult saying to Dingo while at the same time feeling a bit annoyed for the delay.

After what seems to be a moment of silence, Dex was able to hear his Indian friend saying with a rather frighten and yet surprised tone, "All of you won't believe this but I've just had a close encounter with two strange looking aliens! One of them looked like a pretty and attractive girl in a magician's outfit while the other looked like a big black hedgehog with red streaks on its spikes. It also talks, and has one mean attitude! That was what was attacking me which caused me to panic before I came running back here!"

Another moment of silence passed through the room as everyone was trying to comprehend what Dingo just said. Dex has one thing on his mind though. _"A black talkin' hedgehog with red streaks? Well, that couldn't be one of those aliens, the Chaotix," _the large boy thought to himself while trying to think about what his friend just said. _"As far as I know, they're all back at Yai's old treehouse along with both that guy Miguel and that beautiful girl Sylphiel. That thing must be from the world that Vector and the guys was talking about. But just how in the world did...?" _

Just before he could have the chance to think further into his thoughts, Dex heard loud and roaring laughter coming out from Mr. Match, Maddy, Count Zap, Yahoot, and even his own little brother. He either seen them trying their best to calm themselves down or on the ground laughing their heads off. When he turned his attention back towards Dingo, he saw his friend feeling a bit red from either embarrassment or anger for when he said those words.

"Hey, I'm being serious here!" the Indian boy said to his four bosses as well as his little brother while at the same time trying to hide the red embarrassed expression on his face. "Both me and TomahawkMan saw both a pretty and attractive girl dressed in some female version of a magician's outfit with a black and red hedgehog that attacked us! Come on, TomahawkMan! You saw them along with me, didn't ya!"

"Well, you've got to admit that what you've just said is a bit farfetched, Dingo," Dex heard the voice of his friend's Navi, TomahawkMan saying to his NetOp while sounding a bit tired. "There's no way that these guy would've believed us if all we're talking about is pretty girls and black hedgehogs that came out of nowhere!"

"GutsMan thinks so too. Guts," he heard GutsMan saying from within his P.E.T. while still feeling a bit suspicious about what Dingo just said.

Just before the large kid could have a chance to say anything, he heard the voice of Count Zap trying to speak while at the same time trying to surpress his laughter, "Y-Your Navi's got a point there, kiddo! Ah Ha! Ha! Ha! I mean, what else are you going to tell us? The Blue Fairy and a talking cricket told you that the world is coming to an end? Please!"

"You've got that right, Count Zap!" he heard the voice of Maddy saying to her companion while at the same time trying to struggle with the laughter that she had. "I mean, that's just about the lamest excuse that any of us have ever heard since you started working here! What would you going to tell us next? A group of ghost pirates are coming here to attack us?"

As if on cue with her very words, Dex suddenly heard a loud commotion beginning to erupt from outside near where the customers were still waiting for their orders. This also brought the laughter that the former members of World Three and his little brother were emitting to a halt for when they heard the voice of someone that sounded like a pirate, "Arr! I'm Captain Blood and anyone who dares to try to be a hero would pay the ultimate price!"

**End of Part 9**


	10. Chapter 10

**Note to Readers:** I'm sorry that it took me so long for me to update my story, but it's getting a bit harder for me to do so as of late. Now, I would like to say that I'm going to change this story to the anime section of Also I would not only would like to say thanks to the group **Generation-A **for their continued support, but I would also like to tell them that I hope that they're going to get better from their stress soon. I would also like to thank the one named **Lil' Samus **(sorry that I've misspelled your name) for making those cute fics of hers. I would like to say that I'm very impressed and that I hope that you make some more soon. Oh, and I've also added some more characters to this fic so that it might be a bit more interesting. One more thing, then next chapter would probably have some scenes and references to SEGA's new game: **Shadow the Hedgehog. **Now, I'm going to say this again like I have previsely: I only own the story, not the characters. Period. They belong to they're rightful owners mentioned in the first part. So see ya later and enjoy!

**Part 10**

Just as both she and Shadow were causally crossing in the new forms, Mana was amazed for when she behold her eyes on the very city itself. The buildings that surrounded them were taller than the ones that were in Miguel's world. Not only that, but the technology that she saw this world's people using or displaying right now is a bit more advanced than what her love's human friend had in his world. But besides the fact that it was a bit futuristic, the young woman could clearly see that it was like a modern day world.

Mana was still a bit amazed that the spell that she had been working on since five thousand years ago was able to work at all. She had only been able to try it a few times for when she was playing with her monster companions back on her world and this was the only time that she had to use it in order to keep her appearance a secret. Her form looked like the one that she once had for when she still a young mortal back in Ancient Egypt. Only now the form that she took on has longer milk-chocolate brown hair than the one that she had for when she was younger. The modern clothing that she wore consists of a pink cotton sleeveless shirt along with a part of blue shorts that matches along with a pair of pink and baby blue sneakers that have sort of cute hearts and mice designs on them.

Just as she turned her eye's full attention towards the black hedgehog, who she saw was no longer in the form that he used to appear in, she saw that the boy that she was hold onto looked nothing like the black hedgehog that she fell in love with. The boy had long, smooth, and yet spiky hair that's colored jet black along with crimson streaks on the tips of the spikes. She also saw he has tanned but light skin for as he continued to scan the area that they're in with his crimson-colored eyes. Other than the same type of shoes that he wore, the clothing that she saw Shadow wearing in his human form was a bit rough and somewhat mysterious. The huge amount of black leather that he was wearing would make him look as though he were someone rebelling against society or something. The metallic spiked accessory that he was wearing looks a bit too danger for him to be wearing in the middle of the streets of the city they're in. The black leather jacket that he's wearing looked a bit loose and it matches along with his pitch black leather pants.

_"But despite the way he looks with those weird cloths, Shadow still looks cute even as a human," _Mana thought to herself just as she continued to walk in the streets with the self-proclaimed Ultimate Life Form while continuing to hold onto one of his skinny and yet broad arms. _"I would never have imagined that my spell would be able to transform him into such a handsome young man that I'm seeing right now. That gentle smile on his human face right now is something that I've rarely get to see on him as well as seeing him blush for when he saw me in my present form. I wonder how his human friend Miguel would take this for when he see Shadow like this? Hee! Hee! Hee!" _

As she continued to snuggle up towards Shadow's human arm, the female magician in disguise began to sigh in complete bliss for when she felt the the warmth that's being radiated from his sleeve covered limb. Just when she thought that she was the luckiest girl of all time, Mana heard the once black hedgehog saying to her with a rather flustered and yet serious tone in his voice as he tried to keep his voice low enough for only her ears to listen, "M-M-Mana, as much as I would like for you to hold my arm like that, we still need to find where my friend Miguel and the Chaotix are in this world."

The young magician girl let out a soft disappointed and yet playful sigh for as she said to him while also sounding childish, "Aw! You're such a meanie, Shadow! Why can't you just enjoy being here in this world with me?"

As soon as she said those words, Mana saw the once black hedgehog's face beginning to flush even more that it did before. She soon giggled cutely to him for when she saw the look on his face. Just as she was about to say something sweet to her love, the female magician heard a sudden rumbling being emitted from Shadow's stomach.

"Hee! Hee! Hee! Looks like someone is hungry despite claiming to be 'Ultimate Life Form' in the world," Mana said to her love with an impish grin on her face just as she saw Shadow's own face becoming more embarrassed with what she just said just as she spoke softly enough for him to hear so that she wouldn't allow anyone from the crowd to hear. "I may not be able to know anything about the Ultimate Life Form, but I do know that you don't usually eat much or get tired very easily like everyone else. I guess that spell that I've casted on the both us is stronger than I thought. However, we both could still freely use our powers freely without anyone from this world noticing what we really are."

While hearing him sighing in defeat, the female magician heard the hedgehog in disguise saying to her with a rather flustered tone, "I guess that we have no choice but to rest and get something to eat. Thanks to this form that you've given me, I now have to depend on the food I eat in order to survive now. But, what I would like to know is where are we going to eat and how are we going to pay for it?"

That was when the female magician began to giggle softly for just as she said to her black-haired boyfriend while at the same time randomly pointing at a restaurant sign that said 'Number 1 Curry' on it, "Well, fortunately for the two of us, I was able to conjure up some income that would be able to spend on in this world. That restaurant over there seems like the place that could serve great and delicious food. Hee! Hee!"

"(Sighs) Then I guess that we might as well go to that place," she heard Shadow saying to him while seeing him turn his full attention towards the restaurant that she was pointing at. "Besides, the smell being given off at that place is just too good to pass up and I would need the energy."

As soon as she heard those words come out of his mouth, Mana began to smile with the knowledge of knowing that she managed to get her boyfriend to agree to eat with her in a restaurant. She did managed to hear him mumble with a bit of embarrassment in his voice while trying his best to surpress it. Just as they've headed towards the entrance of the restaurant, the young female began to hear sort of a ruckus coming within it but soon ignored it as a bit of her imagination. When both she and Shadow entered the building, Mana soon saw that both she and the hedgehog in disguise were in a rather popular and lively place.

They both saw that the restaurant is really crowded and full of life as people and kids of all ages sitting in different table and eating some sort of spice of sorts. _"Whatever the smell is, it's certainly delicious!" _the female magician thought to herself as she took a whiff of the wonderful scent that was surrounding the room that they were in. _"Whoever is making this type of food really has a good taste in what to put in it. I've never smelled or even tasted anything like this since my time in Ancient Eygpt!" _

"Mana, I think that we ought to find a seat and wait for our order," she heard the voice of Shadow saying to her while at the same time snapping out of her dream-like gaze. "If we don't then we might not have a seat to sit on."

The young female soon noticed that what Shadow said to her wasn't on lie. She saw that most of the tables and seats of the place they were in are starting to become occupied. But, as miracle would have it, there was one seat in the place that had two vacant seats free from anyone who would be fortunate to get them before either she or Shadow would. Before she could have the chance to tell the now black-haired human boy about the empty seats and table that she saw, Mana felt the hand of her love beginning to gently tug her towards the direction at where she found their table.

Just as soon as the two of them arrived at their table and sat at their seats, the young female began to turn towards the once black hedgehog's direction and looked at him with a cute smile spreading across her face. Mana chuckled a bit for when she saw the red blush starting to once again crawl all over Shadow's face. Just before she could have the chance to say something to make the disguised hedgehog blush even more, the female suddenly heard the voice of a young boy saying to them in a happy and polite tone, "So, what could I get for you two? Is there anything that you would like to eat?"

This immediately got Mana to turn away from him and look towards the direction at where the voice was coming from. But just as soon as she stared at where the little boy was suppose to be, the sight that the young female saw was enough to make her squeal with delight. The little boy that she saw looked like he was a cute doll of sorts. The chef's clothing that he was wearing is rather adorable along with his little notepad and pencil. His face filled with the innocent look of a child that out of his eight years of age along with two pink adorable spots on his cheeks that would make him like a cute creature of sorts back in her world. His short high was only able enough to allow him to reach either her waist or Shadow's now visible knees. To top it off, his hair style was rather strange but cute in its own unique way. The one spike that's on his brown hair sticked up towards sky almost like a nail or needle.

Just as she was going to say something to the little boy or even have the chance to hug him with delight, Mana heard the voice of her black-haired boyfriend saying to the child with a startled and yet composed tone, "What is it that you want, little boy? Are you lost or something?"

Just as she was about to tell Shadow not to be rude, the young female began to hear the little boy saying to the disguised hedgehog with a rather annoyed and angry tone, "Who are you calling a little boy! I'll have you know that I'm the little brother of the one person that could make great curry! He's also one of the greatest netbattlers that I've ever seen and he could kick you so hard that it would take you to the moon!"

Just before she could have the chance to intervene with the situation, Mana saw the face on Shadow's face beginning to turn from embarrassed to just plain confused and calm just as he said to the boy, "You're kidding, right kid? Look, I may not know who this brother of yours is or what these netbattles are, but I would not like to cause some trouble with you that would most likely get me or my girlfriend kicked out of this place. Now, what is that you want?"

As she was shocked at the calmness that her love just displayed right in front of the boy, the female magician heard the boy saying to him while using a rather miffed and childish tone, "Well, for your information, I happen to be one of the waiters in this restaurant that just wants to give you your order so that it would allow my big brother make it for you. The menus are on the tables, you know."

As she looked at the table for what the little boy was talking about, Mana saw two menus on the table right near the salt and the napkins just as he said it would. Before she could allow Shadow the chance to speak, the female said to the little boy while trying to calm his annoyed face with one of her bright and cheery smiles while at the same time still delighted to see him, "Well, the two of us have just arrived here and we really don't even know what we want at the moment. Isn't that right, dear?"

Just as soon as she said those words the boy, Mana immediately saw the little cute child beginning to blush with a red shade all over his innocent-looking face. Not only that, but when she turned her full attention back towards Shadow, she saw him giving her a rather confused look just as he said to her quietly so that she would be the only one to hear him, "**'Dear'**? Since when did we become a married couple?"

Just as soon as she heard those words, the female magician began to blush furiously with delight and giggle cutely for as she turned away from him while covering up her face. The thoughts that were circling around her head were imagines of herself in a beautiful white wedding along with Shadow in a black groom's suit while holding out his hand towards his bride-to-be while still in his handsome human form. As soon as she snapped herself out of her dream state, Mana turned to see her black-haired love looking at her with a confused expression on his face while cocking one of his eyebrows. She then turned her full attention back towards the little boy and saw him still blushing like mad with both embarrassment and shyness as he said to her before beginning to walk away, "W-W-Well then, I'll just go take care of some of the other customers that are around here. Call either me or Count Zap for when you've finally decide on what you want. Bye!"

Before she could even have the chance to ask about who this person named Count Zap was, the female magician saw the little boy hurriedly rushing back towards the other costumers where they were wait for their own orders. She then turned her full attention back towards Shadow just in time to hear him saying to her with a rather flushed expression on his face while speaking in a low tone of voice, "Mana, I think that we ought to look at the menus right now and see what we would like to eat. Just why are you staring at me like that anyway?"

_"I wonder what was it that Mana was thinking about for when I asked her that question?" _Shadow thought to himself just as he saw the little boy who was blushing towards Mana's words going away from their table in order to take the orders from the other costumers in the restaurant they're in. _"I mean, it's not I didn't enjoy the love and affection that she's giving to me. It's just that being in this human body is still sort of foreign to me along with feeling embarrassed and flustered for when Mana was talking rather sweetly to me like a cute little kid. _

_"(Sighs) I guess that my own physical appearance isn't the only thing that's changing. I should just find out what I really want to eat and finish it so that we could continue our search for Miguel, Sylphiel, or either of the Chaotix so that I could have some more help with looking for the Chaos Emerald that landed in this world. If that kind of power were to fall into the wrong hands, who knows what might happen?" _

As soon as he finished with those thoughts, the disguised black hedgehog looked back towards the female magician's direction and saw her looking at him with a sort of cute and admiring expression on her face. The kind of face for whenever a crowd of girls see a young man who they find incredibly handsome. Shadow blushed for when he saw the beautiful smile beginning to crept all across her face.

"Mana, I think that we ought to look at the menus right now and see what we would like to eat," the now black-haired human said to his now brown-haired female while whispering to her in a low voice so that only she would be able to hear and also trying to maintain his usual cool tone but failed to do so. "Just why are you staring at me like that anyway?"

"Oh, nothing Shadow darling. Just simply adoring you in that form that you're in right now. I just couldn't help it for when I find you attractive!" was Mana's reply as she gave him a wink of her eye along with a cute girlish giggle that caused him to blush even more.

Just as he grabbed one of the menus from on top of the table's surface and covered his now embarrassed face while making it look like he was searching for something to eat. _"Man, this is really starting to get to me!" _the black hedgehog in disguise thought to himself just as he did his best to calm himself from the embarrassment that he had to endure as he heard the female magician continuing to giggle cutely from behind his menu. _"I mean, ever since having met Mana and...kissed her, I started to feel different. I start blushing and acting like an idiot for whenever I'm around her and it makes me think silly thoughts like seeing her in a bathing suit or...seeing her in a bathing suit! What the hell was I thinking that for! Just where in the world did that thought came from anyway?"_

Just before he could continue to argue with his own thoughts, Shadow soon stopped for a moment as soon as he remember that he wasn't alone in the table that he was on and turned his attention back towards Mana's direction. As soon as he laid his eyes on her, the black hedgehog saw that the female was already starting to scan through her menu in order to look for something that would be appetizing to her. The Ultimate Life Form soon sighed with relief and began to calm himself down for when he saw that he wouldn't be teased by her anytime soon. _"I guess that I should look for something to eat as well," _Shadow thought to himself just as he started to scan words through the menu in order to see what he should eat. _"Hmmm. This is a rather interesting selection for a place like this. Curry Udon? Pork Curry? Vegetable Curry? Is that how this restaurant serves its costumers? I guess that I have no choice but to pick one out and eat it before I lose consciousness from energy loss." _

With those thoughts done in his mind, Shadow began to scan through the menu in order to decide what he would like to order. Just as he thought that he had found something that he thought would be appetizing and enough to fill him up, the disguised Mobian soon began to sense what appears to be a chill coming up his now human spine. _"What is this feeling that I'm getting?" _Shadow thought to himself just as he look up from his menu and began to scan his surroundings in order to see where it came from. _"This is the sort of thing that I should only be feeling for whenever I'm sensing an enemy nearby. But the question is, where did it come from?" _

As the black hedgehog continued to scan the restaraunt in order to find the source of the disturbing feeling that he's sensing, he soon rested his eyes on someone that he thought would be suspicous. Who Shadow saw was a man that's dressed in some kind of outfit that someone always wears for when he or she decides to take up on ninja training. He also noticed that the man possesses a rather noticable and yet tough-looking scar that has been gashed right all across the right side of his face that also went across his eye. The expression that the Ultimate Life Form noticed on his face almost made him appear sinister. The symbols that he'd seen on the man's were almost identical to that of ninja stars that he's seen Espio thrown once.

Just as he thought that the man wasn't a threat by himself, the black hedgehog suddenly heard the voice of Mana saying to him with a worried tone in her voice, "Shadow, is something the matter? Are you feeling alright?"

As soon he heard those words coming out of the young woman's mouth, Shadow began to turn towards her direction just in time to see a worried expression all over her face. The black hedgehog began to lighten his face from a shocked and frighten expression to a smile as he spoke to her with a reassuring tone, "I'm alright, Mana. It's just that I've felt a chill all around my body from the air conditioner here, that's all. I guess that it came from..."

Just before he could have the chance to finish the rest of his sentence, Shadow began to hear what appears to sound like frightened and manic screaming coming out from behind what appears to be the restaurant's kitchen.

"What was that, Shadow darling!" he heard the voice of Mana saying to him with a rather panicked tone just as he turned towards the direction of where the entrance of the kitchen would be. "Do you think that this place could be attacked by robbers?"

Just as the black hedgehog in his human guise was about to go see what the noise was all about and take care of whoever was unlucky enough to cross his path, he was suddenly stopped by a hand in front of him as he heard the voice of a man saying to him with a calm and cool tone, "Don't you and your girlfriend worry about it, boy. This type of behavior is normal for this restraurant's employees. Especially in a place like this."

After noticing how cool response is, the Ultimate Life Form began to turn towards the direction where the voice came from and saw the man in the ninja outfit staring back at him as if he were not concern about what just occurred. "What do you mean by that, old man?" Shadow responded to the odd stranger with a threatening look on his face that told him that if he tried anything funny or suspicious, it would be wise not to mess with him.

"What I'm saying is that this type of thing always happens for whenever their delivery boy, Dingo, is always late on one of his deliveries," the man said to the disguised hedgehog with a cool and yet rather suspicious look on his face. "Just take a look around where you and your girlfriend are now and see what I mean."

As he did what he was told, Shadow saw that the mysterious man wasn't lying. The Mobian saw that everyone in the restaurant was as calm like it was a regular day or something. Just before he could have the chance to ask or even reply to the strange man's words, Shadow suddenly heard the commotion of what appears to be a large gang coming in through the restaurant's enterance. What he didn't expect was that the gang in question were wearing glowing green and identical pirate outfits that made them feel like spirits or something. The weapons that they were holding looked as though that they could either by decades or centuries old.

Before he could have the chance to do anything, that black hedgehog saw who looks to be the leader of the pirate gang appearing from within the group of green goons. What he saw on the leader was something that he thought would only get to see in the horror stories. The pirate that he saw had a really atrocious sight that he's ever seen since confronting the power mad sorcerer named Ixis Naugus. Besides the fact that he wore an eyepatch on his right eye, the face of the leader looked as though he'd suffer many cuts and slashes by someone with a knife. As for the rest of his body, the black hedgehog was only able to make out that it looked as though he were a walking dead body that's suffered through a horrible accident.

"Arr! I'm Captain Blood and anyone who dares to try to be a hero would pay the ultimate price! Understands?" he heard the leader, now known as Blood, saying to everyone in the room while at the same time sounding as menacing as he looks while turning towards his group of seemingly near identical companions. "Har! Har! Wouldn't you all agree with me fellas?"

As a response to their leader's words, Shadow heard the large group of pirates all beginning to cackle evilly towards their captives. Everyone in the room began to panic as he saw each of the pirates beginning to block all possible means of escape for anyone. That was when he also heard the voice of Mana saying to him with low tone while also sounding a bit frightened, "Shadow, I'm sensing a very powerful spiritaul energy coming from those creatures. They're not human, at least not anymore."

When he heard those words coming from the young woman's mouth, the black hedgehog was about to ask her something just before he heard the voice of the strange robed man saying to the large group of green characters with a rather calm and yet seriously dangerous tone in his voice, "I would suggest that you and your little band of pirates get out of here before you wound up getting yourselves hurt."

As soon as he heard those words coming out of the strange man's mouth, Shadow was about to protest about his defiance towards the group for when he heard them starting to emit an evil and yet hearty laugh as they stared at him with a rather confident expressions on each of their faces. "Well, it looks as though we have a hero on our hands, fellas," the black hedgehog heard the one called Captain Blood saying to his green companions. "What do you all say that we send this fella with the gown to the bottoms of hell! Arrrr!"

Just before he could even make an attempt to keep any of the pirates from advancing towards the unfazed man with the scar, Shadow suddenly heard the voice of a man with a Scottish accent saying while sounding pretty confused and annoyed, "Hey! Who's causing all this ruckus all around here! If anyone around here breaks anything, they'll be the ones to buy it!"

As soon as he heard those words, Shadow began to turn his attention towards the source of the noise and saw a group of people that were shocked at what they were seeing. Other than seeing the same cute little child with them, the black hedgehog saw a man with long and flaming red hair along with a short beard of sorts along with an outfit that seemed to reflect his personality. He also saw another man with blond hair dressed in a rather strange and yet not so unusual suit that he soon noticed that lightbulbs are attached and connected to each other like wires. He soon noticed that the young female of the groups dressed like a regular teenaged girl and has a bit too much make-up on her face. The only thing that he did notice irregular about her is the fact that her pink hair was designed like that of a french poodle that he sworn he saw once. The final adult male of the group didn't have much hair on his except the amount that he'd used to form a ponytail. He also looked as though he had been in the sun for too long in the beach and from the way that he was build, he could've sworn that he hadn't eaten for about a week.

As soon as he surveyed the rest of the group, Shadow saw a huge kid in a chef's outfit with a rather strange shark fin-like hairdo on his head that appeared to not have much hair left in it. He then turned his attention towards another kid who wearing a black-hooded sweater of sort. He also noticed all of the kid's face was painted a bit but not entirely. Just as he was about to do anything that would be able to take care of the situation in less than a minute, the black hedgehog in disguise was soon dragged under the table by the arm just as he looked to see Mana with a rather surprised and shocked look on her face.

"Mana, what's the matter with you?" Shadow asked the female magician with both a worried and serious tone in his voice but kept it as gentle as he could without hurting her feelings just as he was under the table by the hand of the young woman. "You looked as though you've seen a ghost. Well, despite the fact that what we're seeing right now are actually ghosts."

"It's not that, Shadow darling," he heard Mana saying with a rather surprised tone just as he looked at her straight in the eyes for whatever answer she was about to say. "The boy that I've seen with black sweater and the paint on his face is the very same boy that you've attacked while you were still not fully conscious."

Dingo was a bit surprised and frightened for when he heard those words coming from outside of Yahoot's office. He couldn't believe that what Maddy said about a group of ghost pirates coming in the restaurant came true. As soon as he, Dex, and his little brother, along with all four former members of World Three, got to the front register in order to see what was going on, the Indian boy soon found himself becoming rather frighten for when he laid his eyes on the sight before him.

"Oy! Dingo! What's going on out there!" he heard the voice of TomahawkMan saying to him with a rather worried and yet anxious tone in his voice while at the same time trying to get his Net Op's attention. "I thought that I've heard some guy with a sort of frog in his throat shouting out to...!"

As if to respond to his digital friend's question, Dingo began to raise his P.E.T. towards the direction where he was looking at so that he would share what was the source of the disturbance. What the boy saw was a group of identical looking people in wearing what appears to be green pirate outfits. Not only that but the green light that they're emitting made them look as though they were ghosts. But that wasn't what nearly frighten him the most is the supposed leader of the group. Dingo would've screamed right there and now for when he saw what the leader looked like. It was almost as if he were from a sort of horror movie that he'd watched once just before arriving to Jawaii Island and meeting up with Lan.

Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly heard Dex shouting out while at the same time seeing him quickly ducking out towards the front counter of the restaurant along with his little brother, "Ahhhh! Pirate ghosts! Everyone duck!"

As soon as he saw the large kid and his tiny sibling vanishing into the bottom of the counter, the Indian boy turned their full attention towards everyone else had quickly ducked underneath their tables for safety and covered. The only people that seemed almost to be unfazed by the announcement were himself, Mr. Match, Count Zap, Maddy, Yahoot, and, much or little to his surprise, Dark Miyabi: the mysterious ninja operator of the Navi ShadowMan. Before he could have the chance to join Dex and Chisao under the table, the Indian boy began to hear the voice of Miyabi saying to the leader of the group with a non-fazed tone in his voice, "Pirate ghosts? Hmph! Looked as though that large kid has spent way too much time in the kitchen or watched too much horror movies because all I see are nothing but a group of petty thieves dressed in cheap costumes for this coming Halloween. Now that's just pathetic."

Dingo was suddenly shocked for when he heard those words coming out of the scar-faced ninja mouth for as he faced the terrifiying group with no signs of fear whatsoever showing on his face. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly heard the leader of the pirate-themed group beginning to laugh at the ex-mercenary very loudly and rentlessly. Soon, the Indian boy heard the entire gang of pirates joining in with their leader's laugh just as he heard their laughter turning into an echo all over the building.

Just as soon as he heard them finishing their chorus of joined laughs, Dingo heard the leader of the group saying to Dark Miyabi while at the same time pointing his seemingly sharp and dull blade towards his direction, "Har! Well, it looks as though this guy has a lot of guts, gang! We originally came here because we smelled the scent of great Chaos Energy from within this place, but this gown dressin' land lober here sounds like he would want a fight with us. What do you all say that we all teach this fool a lesson that he won't soon forget?"

After hearing a united "Har!" from the rest of the pirate group as a sign of approval, Dingo watched silently as he saw dark ninja bringing out what appears to be a shuriken from beneath his sleeve and struck it at the weapon that the leader had pointed at him from before. As soon as he saw the long and huge blade drop to the ground, the boy watched, along with his Net Navi, Miyabi threw three more along with the one in his hands towards the other pirate in hopes of ensnaring them from the loose cloths of their costumes. Just as he or the former members of World Three were about to cheer for the ex-mercenary on the capture for when something shocking and unexpected happened.

What the boy saw was the projectile weapon that the Dark Miyabi threw at the pirates had seemed to went through them as if they were made of nothing but thin air. As soon as he saw the shurikens hitting the wall and sticking there, Dingo wore a now terrified look on his face. "D-D-Did you three j-j-just saw that!" he heard the frightened tone of Yahoot saying while at the same time turning to see him along with his companions scared-stiff like display dummies.

"I-I-If what you mean is t-the fact that Miyabi's ninja stars flew right pass those pirates like holograms, then that's what we just saw," he heard the voice of Count Zap responding with the same frighten tone as the former Yoga master while at the same time seeing the electric operator chattering his teeth together with fright.

"I thought that ghosts were only suppose to be nothing but a silly superstition that MegaMan is usually afraid of!" Maddy added to her electrified friend with the same scared tone as the rest of her friends just as he saw her hair becoming stiff with fear.

"Aye! You've got that right lassy!" Dingo heard the voice of Mr. Match saying while at the same time seeing him becoming as frighten as the rest of his companions.

Just as he turned towards Dark Miyabi's direction to see how his reaction, the Indian boy soon began to see a slight hint of fear being shown on his usually stone cold face. Before he could have the chance to think of anything that might be of some help against this unusual sight, Dingo begna to hear the voice of TomahawkMan saying to him while surprisingly maintaining a cool tone, "Dingo! Don't just stand there! Call Mr. Famous and have him send over a Dimensional Area! We still have the Synchro Chip to fight these things back with, remember?"

With those words said by his Navi, the young boy immediately reached his hand in his pocket and felt the object that he hadn't used since being able to fused with TomahawkMan: the Synchro Chip. Just as he was about to use his P.E.T. to contact Mr. Famous from Sci Lab to create a Dimensional Area around the area they're in, Dingo suddenly saw the door of the restraurant starting to open all of a sudden and saw a barrage of what appears to be small barrage of yellow energy spears striking themselves towards a few of the pirates causing them to vanish out of existence. It all happened so fast that the Indian boy didn't have the time or even made an attempt to move for when he saw some of the pirates vanishing out of existence. "Arrgh! Who did that! Who's the land lover that dared to strike me and my crew?" he heard the angered tone of the leader of the ghostly pirate gang shouting out loud as he and along with his companions turned towards the direction of where the spears of energy were shot from.

As soon as he began to turn to look at what the band of pirates were looking at, Dingo was suddenly shocked and frighten for when he saw the sight before him. Just as he was about to say something or stutter even a word about what he saw, the Indian boy suddenly heard a familiar voice saying to the group through the entrance of the door, "You fools are nothing but a bunch of cowards that would capture innocent people just to get what you want. Heh! Well, you're all going to have to take on the Ultimate Life Form if you want to prove me otherwise."

After hearing those words, Dingo was now reassured that the owner of this voice was none other than the black creature that he'd seen from before along with the blonde girl in the magician's outfit. The creature whom was referred to the girl by the name of Shadow. "That's it! That's the creature that I was talking about from before!" he shouted out to everyone in the room while at the same time pointing his index finger towards the entrance of the restaurant with a rather frightened and shocked tone in his voice. "I told you all that both me and TomahawkMan weren't crazy! That black and red hedgehog is the real thing!"

Just as soon as he said those words, the young boy began to see the black and crimson spiked hedgehog beginning to enter the restraurant like he were on a casual day. Before he could have the chance to make a sound or even say a word, Dingo began to hear Yahoot saying outloud with a rather confused and yet amazed tone in his voice just as he was beholding on the sight right in front of him, "Then w-w-what Dingo said a-a-about the black and red creature was true a-a-after all!"

"But what kind of creature is that black and red hedgehog!" he heard the shocked voice of Maddy saying to her companions as he turned to see her along with both Count Zap and Mr. Match staring at the creature with amazement on their faces. "Is it some kind of alien being from another world?"

Before he could have the chance to speak, Dingo suddenly saw the black hedgehog-like being starting to snap his fingers just as he heard the creature speaking rather calm tone while at the same time snapping his fingers, "Chaos Nightmare."

Suddenly without warning, the Indian boy saw a sudden burst of mult-colored energy beginning to appear out of nowhere and saw the group of spiritual green pirates shout out with pain and anguish for when the attack collided. Dingo then saw some of the intruders begin to disappear from sight just before the electrical storm of multi-colored energy ceasing. "Argh! The Chaos Energy that's comin' from that black and red creature be great!" the boy heard the voice of the leader saying with a angered tone just as he turned his rusty looking blade towards the black hedgehog's direction. "Forget all about these land lovers in this crapshack and get that black animal, you green fools! He may possess that Chaos Emerald that Master Dilgear and Lord Shade wants!"

After hearing the entire group of what was left of the green spectral pirates responding to their leader with very angered voices, Dingo began to see the black hedgehog creature hovering over the ground that he stands on with the help of the weird shoes that it's wearing on its two feet. Before he knew it, the boy saw the black and red creature starting to retreat out of sight at a great speed. Then soon after, Dingo began to see the entire group of what was left of the pirate ghosts beginning to exit the restaurant through the front entrance.

Just before he could have the chance to register what just happened, the Indian boy began to hear the voice of Dex saying to him with a rather unusually serious tone in his voice just as he turned to see the large kid looking over him while at the same time climbing out of the table that he and Chisao were hiding under, "Dingo, just where in the world did you see that black and red hedgehog thing! This is very important! I have to know where you saw this guy because it may have something with those green pirates appearing as well as the Chaotix!"

Just as soon as she finished speaking about the boy that she saw from before, Mana began to hear the ruckus that was coming from above caused by the green group of spirits. She shuddered as she continued to sense their evil energy starting to surround the room with its invisible presense. That when she heard the voice of Shadow saying to her with a rather surprised tone in his voice, "What! You mean to tell me that the kid with the paint on his face is the one that I've thought was an assassin?"

As she heard those words come out of the black hedgehog's mouth, the female magician began to nod her head in response to his question just as she spoke again, "I'm afraid so. From the way that kid was running away from you for when you attacked him with your Chaos Spear, I'd say that you've managed to scare the living daylights out of him. You won't be able to make any friends if you attack them like that."

After she had finished talking, Mana saw the young human face of Shadow beginning to blush at what she just said to him before saying to her with a rather flustered voice, "I didn't know that he was just a human kid that only wanted to help out. So sue me!"

The young female began to giggle cutely for a brief moment at the signs of embarrassment that she saw on her black and red haired love's face. But that was when the chill of the evil energy reminded her of the situation that they were in as both she and the Ultimate Life Form were still hiding under the table in order to keep from confronting everyone along with the green ghost spirits that are right before them. "Shadow, those spirits that I'm sensing from those people in the green costumes are emitting a rather large amount of that Chaos Energy that you've once mentioned to me before," she said to the black hedgehog before she continued with a shudder to her voice as she shaked her body while fending off the coldness that she's feeling at the moment. "Not only that, but it feels too...brrr! Evil. We can't just stand around here and do nothing about it."

As soon as she said those words to the black hedgehog in his human guise, Mana began to see his face starting to turn entirely serious for as he said to her, "I agree with you, Mana. We can't just allow these humans to get hurt by these foolish spirits. But if we were to reveal ourselves to them, then that would mean some very unwanted attention from the people of this world."

"But we can't just let these people get hurt while we just sit around under this table and do nothing about it," the young female magician replied to Shadow's words with a sort of worried tone just as she continued to feel the evil energy from the ghost pirates all around her body. "These things seem like that they wouldn't hesitate to attack these innocent people without a second thought! Just what are we going to do about it?"

After she finished speaking, Mana suddenly saw the gaze of the Ultimate Life Form's human face beginning to look thoughtful about what she had just said. While feeling like time around them have passed for about a few minutes, she suddenly heard the black hedgehog speaking. "Mana, I think that you should return me back to my regular form," she heard Shadow saying to her with a serious tone while at the same time looking at the scene developing from above them. "People might start to get suspicious if I use any of my powers while I'm in this human form that you gave me."

"But then that would get the people in this place to start noticing your very existence as well as that boy," the young female said to the black hedgehog while at the same time beginning to worry about his safety. "He knows who you are and is still frighten of you thanks to that attack that you've unleashed upon him a while back. Not only that, but I think that the scarred-man is starting to get a bit suspicious about you for when I saw you two looking at one another like common enemies."

"Please, Mana, now's not the time to start arguing. Just release the spell on me and I'll lead them away from here as fast as I can," she heard Shadow saying to her with a rather begging sounding tone of voice while at the same time seeing his crimson eyes staring at her own. "There's no other choice but for me to get their attention and lead them away from here as fast as I can so that I wouldn't put innocent people in danger. Once that's done, I'll come back to get you and we'll both continue our search for Miguel and the others. Please?"

Mana was a bit flushed a bit for when he stared at her irises like that. She could feel both her cheeks beginning to turn pink and warm for when she saw the desperate look on his face. Then that was when she finally gave up and began to say to Shadow, "Oh alright, Shadow darling. It'll just take me a minute for me to undo the spell that I've placed on you. But there's something that I'm curious about. What are you going to do in order to get out of here? People are going to get a suspicious for when they see you come out from under this table in your normal form."

"I wouldn't worry about that, Mana," she heard the black hedgehog beginning to say to her with a calm and soft tone in his voice just as she saw him turning his face away from him and watching the scene that was developing from above the table they are under at the moment. "I would be able to use the Chaos Control without having to cause a huge commotion or disturbance as long as I keep a close range within the area that we're in right now. So we won't have to worry about us, _'Being caught with our pants down,'_ as I heard Sonic once say. Of course, when the time comes for you to actually meet him, please don't tell him that I've said that to you or I would never hear the end of it."

The female magician began to give off a cute giggle for a bit for when she heard the humor that rarely ever came out of Shadow's mouth. She then calmed herself down a bit and then began to focus her mind on making her magician's wand appearing on her hands. As soon as she felt the surface of the wand touching her hands, Mana began to search her mind for a way reverse or undo the spell that she casted upon the Ultimate Life Form.

_"It shouldn't be too hard for me to undo," _the female magician thought to herself just as she finally found a way that would reverse the spell that she placed on Shadow. _"(Sighs) It's such a shame. I was beginning to like Shadow as a human right now. But I guess that somethings can't be helped with the way things are right now. Well, here it goes." _

As soon as she finished with thinking about the words to cancel the spell, Mana began to wave her wand around a bit despite the fact that it was a bit crowded from under the table that they're under in. For when she finished silently reciting the words quietly to herself to cancel the spell, the female began to place her wand over her black-haired lover's head and before she knew it, she saw white but not to bright light beginning to envelope his entire being. When the faint but bright light faded from her view and she soon found herself looking at the true form of Shadow the Hedgehog.

"Okay, now that that's been taken care of, I could finally show these foolish green ghosts in pirate's clothing what this Ultimate Life Form could do," she heard the black hedgehog beginning to say to her while continuing to keep his voice low so that no one else would hear. "Mana, I want you to stay in your human form so that there would be a less chance of you getting spotted and recognized by that boy and those people as well as getting caught by those pirates. I should be able to take care of those things by myself as well as get them away from this city as best as I could. I'll be able to contact you through a psychic link using the power of the gemstones that we both have in case I can't handle them by myself."

"Just promise me that you call for as soon as you feel that you are in trouble," she spoke to Shadow with a rather worried and concerned tone in her voice. "I can't bare to think about what would happen if anything bad were to happen to you."

"Don't worry about me, Mana. I'll be just fine," she heard the black hedgehog saying to her with a rather confident tone just as he stared at her with a smile on his face. "These green pirates won't know what hit them for when they feel the power of my Chaos Nightmare. I just want to be sure that these people don't get hurt for the battle that's about to ensue around here...along with you."

As soon as she heard those words coming from his mouth, Mana began to move her face towards Shadow's and planted a gentle kiss on his cheek. She then saw the black and red hedgehog beginning to blush at the gesture that she gave him. But that was when she saw him leaning his face towards her own face and kissed her on her now tanned cheek. The young female then began to feel flushed before hearing him saying quietly to himself, "Chaos Control."

Before she knew it, Mana saw the the black hedgehog vanishing from her sights without emitting the emerald-green light that he usually gives off for whenever he uses his teleporting technique. She then turned her full attention back towards the scene that was developing and soon heard the voice of the ghost pirate leader named Captain Blood crying out in both anger and pain, "Arrgh! Who did that! Who's the land lover that dared to strike me?"

Just as she looked over to the scene, the young female saw the green ghost leader as well as the rest of his comrades looking towards the direction of where the entrance of the restaurant is. What she saw was her love Shadow staring down at the green ghost pirate group as if they were nothing more than bothersome flies or something. But that wasn't what got her attention the most. What Mana saw was the look on the kid's painted face was a bit frighten and yet shocked for when he saw Shadow once again entering the building that they were in while saying to the ghost, "You fools are nothing but a bunch of cowards that would capture innocent people just to get what you want. Heh! Well, you're all going to have to take on the Ultimate Life Form if you want to prove me otherwise."

As soon as she heard him saying those words, Mana began to hear the surprised voice of the young boy saying to a the older adults, who appear to be the real owners of the shop, while at the same time pointing towards the black hedgehog's direction, "That's it! That's the creature that I was talking about from when I was talking about from before! I told you all that both me and TomahawkMan weren't crazy! That black and red hedgehog is the real thing!"

For when she heard the boy finished with his words, the female magician began to hear the man with the dark colored skin saying with a rather shocked tone in his voice, "Then w-w-what Dingo said a-a-about the black and red creature was true a-a-after all!"

"But what kind of creature is that black and red hedgehog!" she heard the response of the young woman with pink hair resembling that of a poodle saying to her older companion with the same shocked tone. "Is it some kind of alien being from another world?"

Before she could have the chance to hear a response coming from the three older males, Mana saw Shadow starting to snap two of his fingers just as he spoke with a rather calm tone in his voice, "Chaos Nightmare."

As soon as she heard those words come out of his mouth, the female magician saw what appears to be the black hedgehog's Chaos Nightmare attack. She saw mult-colored electricity beginning to engulf the group of green ghost spirits within its presense. Mana saw that some of them began to vanish out of existence for as the attack continued its onslaught. After what appears to be an hour of watching the mult-colored electical storm pounding against most of its prey, the female saw the attack beginning to cease and found that most of the pirates still remained while looking rather mad as well as injured.

She heard Captain Blood beginning to shout out while saying to his crew with a rather demanding tone along with anger in his voice, "Argh! The Chaos Energy that's comin' from that black and red creature is great! Forget all about these land lovers in this crapshack and get that black animal, you green fools! He may possess that Chaos Emerald that Master Dilgear and Lord Shade wants!"

As soon as she heard those words come out of the leader's mouth, Mana saw Shadow giving a rather arrogant smirk on his face just before seeing him beginning to run out of the scene with the help of his special shoes. When she saw the remaining group of the green spirits beginning to give chase to the black hedgehog, the female started to take herself out of the table that she was in and began to see if everyone in the restaurant was okay. After seeing that most of the terrified people beginnig to come out from under of the tables, Mana suddenly heard the voice of what appears to be a rather large and tough-sounding boy saying to his friend with a rather serious tone in his voice, "Dingo, just where in the world did you see that black and red hedgehog thing! This is very important! I have to know where you saw this guy because it may have something with those green pirates appearing as well as the Chaotix!"

As soon as she heard the name of Shadow's friends, the female magician began to turn her head towards the direction to where she heard the voices from and saw the boy that she saw from the first time speaking to a rather large kid with a strange hair-do. However, she didn't have the time to catch the rest of their conversation for while she began to scan her mind in order to look for a spell that would knock out everyone from within the building that she's in. _"I should just focus my attention on focusing my spell on just the rest of the people of this place rather than the boys that are arguing right now," _Mana thought to herself just as she once again ducked under the table to grab her wand and began to wave it around the air. _"From the way that the large boy mentioned the name of Shadow's friends, I'm sure that he must know where they are as well as Miguel."_

As soon as he finish speaking, Dex waited a moment so it was to find out what answer that Dingo had to give him. But that was when he heard the voice of his little brother Chisao asking him with a rather excited tone, "Dex, did you see that! That awesome black and red hedgehog just came out of nowhere and showed those green pirates that he means business! He's so cool!"

"Chisao! Now is not the time to be impressed with that...whatever just came through the front door!" he heard the voice of TomahawkMan saying to the little boy with a rather annoyed tone in his voice before seeing his entire image pop out of Dingo's P.E.T. "And to answer your question, we just saw that thing back at the beach where Dingo got himself lost again."

"Hey! And what does that suppose to mean!" he heard Dingo responding to his Navi with a rather miffed tone while holding his personal terminal towards his face. "I'll have you know that I usually get to where I'm going by throwing that...!"

"Um, I hate to break this little arguement up, but I don't feel like playing referee with the two of you for when there are more important things that we ought to be focusing on!" Dex said to the two arguing friends while at the same time cutting off their arguement with a rather annoyed tone as well as get their full attention. "Now, what is the name of that creature? What about this girl that you saw? Was she like that black hedgehog-like thing too?"

After saying those words to his indian friend, the large kid saw him turning his head towards his direction while saying to him with a thoughful tone as he tried to think back to where he had his recent encounter, "Well, from what I've heard from that magician girl, his name was Shadow. As for the girl herself, she's actually pretty human the first time that I've checked. But the strangest thing about it is that she seems rather fond of that black hedgehog thing. Almost like a boyfriend of sorts. Well, judging from the way she said it anyway."

"Heh! GutsMan don't believe it! Guts!" Dex heard the voice of GutsMan saying to him with a rather scoffing tone in his voice just as his image too floated up from within his own P.E.T. just as he raised his Personal Terminal in front of him. "No way pretty girl like that fall for a black weirdo like that."

"Well, I have to agree with GutsMan on this one, Dingo," he said to his friend with a rather thoughtful tone in his voice just as he began to image Maylu in a cute magician's outfit. "I mean, what would a beautiful babe like that find in a black hedgehog like that?"

"Uh, Big bro, I think that you should look around the place and see what's happening," the large kid heard the voice of his little brother saying to him with a rather frighten and nervous tone in his voice as he felt the small arms of Chisao beginning to wrap themselves around one of his legs.

Just as soon as he turned to face the direction where his little cute brother is facing, Dex was suddenly both either shocked or embarrassed for when he saw the scene in the front of his eyes. What the large kid saw was that everyone, including Mr. Match, Count Zap, Maddy, and Yahoot, were fast asleep as if they were knocked out by Knockout Gas. He even saw both Count Zap and Mr. Match were sucking on their thumbs like little babies. Both Maddy and Yahoot were able to sleep just like regular people other than the fact that they were both drueling. But what got Dex wondering the most is the fact that only he, Dingo, and Chisao were about the only ones that weren't effected by whatever caused everyone to fall asleep all of a sudden.

But as soon as he started to look around the area to see where he could find the source of theh disturbance, the large kid soon found himself looking at a rather pretty tan-skinned teenaged girl with brown long hair holding up a rather strange and unusual stick of sorts. After taking a closer look at the object in her hands, Dex soon saw a rather strange and yet pink aura being emitted all around the girl. Just as he was about to get Dingo and Chisao's attention in order for them to look at what he seeing, the huge kid heard the Indian boy saying to him with a rather flushed and yet surprised tone in his voice, "Look over there, Dex! That pretty girl is casting a spell of sorts on everyone around here! But why would...?"

Just before he could heard Dingo finish the rest of his question, Dex heard the voice of his little brother saying to him with a rather amazed tone, "Wow! Did you see that, big bro! That girl who I was talking to earlier can use real magic! That's about the coolest thing that I've ever seen!"

The large kid was both relieved and surprised at what he just heard Chisao said about the girl with the pink energy surrounding her. But he then just decided to just push that thought aside and began to walk over towards the unknown girl's direction. As soon as he was close enough to the female's direction, Dex kept his distance so that in case if she turned out to be like one of those frightening green pirates that he saw, he would be able to run as fast as he could so that he would be able to get himself, Dingo, and Chisao to safety.

However, just before he could have the chance to even speak to her, the head strong kid suddenly saw her turning her pretty face towards his direction and said to him with a rather calm and friendly tone in her voice, "I'm very sorry for doing this to everyone as well as your bosses, but I really have no choice but to knock them out with my sleeping spell so that no one in this area would think about following my darling Shadow. Believe me, it's for their own safety."

As soon as he heard those words, Dex found himself becoming dumbstruck for when heard those words come out of the young brown-haired girl's mouth. Before he could have the chance to say anything about what he just heard, the large kid heard the voice of Dingo saying to the rather strange teenaged girl with a rather surprised and shocked tone in his voice while pointing his finger towards her direction, "W-W-Wait a minute! I know you! You're that strange magician girl that came to into this world along with that black and red Shadow creature that tried to murder me! But just how in the world did you manage to change your looks? You now look like a regular pretty teenaged girl to me."

After hearing those words coming from his friend's mouth, Dex saw the pretty girl beginning to twirl the baton-like object around in her hands. Just before either he, Dingo, or Chisao could have the chance to ask about what she's doing, the large kid's sight was suddenly blinded by a small and quick flash of bright pink light. As he did his best to regain his full eyesight back form the scene, Dex was able to make out the full image of what the girl is really like. What he saw was that the girl who seemed to be normal is wearing a pretty and cute magician's outfit of sorts with a mix of blue and pink on it. Her hair is now golden as the gold bars that he once saw in Yai's mansion a few years back and, in his opinion, was the cutest girl that he'd ever seen next to Maylu and Jasmine.

Before he could even have the chance to give the girl a comment on how she looks, the large kid heard his little and younger brother saying to the girl while at the same time feeling a bit amused with what he saw, "Wow! You're the most prettiest girl that I've ever seen! Not that, but you could actually do real magic! What else could you do?"

Just before he could allow the strange magician girl to answer, Dex began to say to Chisao with an amazed and shocked tone in his voice just before turning his full attention back towards the magician girl, "Now's not the time to be impressed, Chisao! Now, as for you, just what is the meaning of you casting that sleeping spell of yours all over the place so that no one would follow that creepy black hedgehog thing!"

Whatever the large kid thought that he said must've really offended the girl that was in front of him for as he saw her face turning rather mad and heard her saying to him with a rather miffed tone in her voice, "How dare you say that about my darling Shadow! I'll have you know that 'black hedgehog' has suffered way more than anybody in this entire world could ever endure! He happens to be one of the most gentlest creatures that I've ever had to fall in love with and I doubt that you would ever understand that!"

Dex was feeling a bit frighten for when he heard those words coming out of the magician girl's mouth. Not only that, but he also felt a bit dumbfounded for when he heard her calling the hedgehog creature her 'darling Shadow.' Just before he could have the chance to talk about what she's talking about, he heard the voice of Dingo saying while at the same time trying to change the subject, "Can we all maybe talk about this later? We have other things to worry about like who this girl is and why she and this Shadow are here in this world to begin with."

"For once, I happen to agree with Dingo on this one," the large kid heard TomahawkMan saying to everyone while at the same time feeling a bit surprised about what just happened in front of his eyes. "If both you and this Shadow aren't here to try to conquer this world, then why are you here in the first place, miss...?"

"Mana. Just please call me Mana," he heard the female magician responding to the Net Navi with both a polite and yet confused tone in her voice. "Well, and to answer most of your questions, both me and Shadow came here to find his friends who's group goes by the name the Chaotix as well as his two human friends. A young man named Miguel and a beautiful young lady named Sylphiel. But..."

As soon as he heard the name of the Mobian group, Dex began to say to Mana with a rather surprised and worried tone, "Wait! Your black boyfriend knows Miguel and Sylphiel as well as the Chaotix! If what you're telling me is the truth, then we might be in more trouble if anyone were to find out where you two really came from or finds a piece of the...!"

"Speaking of which, where's that guy Dark Miyabi?" he heard the young voice of his little brother asking everyone while at the same time interupting his words while the large kid turned to the seat to where the ninja was once sitting. "He sort of vanished into thin air for when those scary ghosts went after that black hedgehog thing appeared."

"Now that I think about it, he was giving my darling Shadow some odd looks for when he was in human form," said the female magician with a thoughtful tone in her voice. "Do you suppose that maybe that he saw through my little spell and went after him?"

_"Uh Oh!" _Dex thought to himself just as panic was beginning seep throughout his entire large body. _"If Miyabi is planning on following those that black creature along with those green pirate ghosts, then we're in for a whole lot of trouble in our hands!" _

"Dex, do you know something about those green ghost that you're not telling me?" the large kid heard Dingo saying to him with a rather suspicious tone in his voice while staring at him in order to get the answer out of him. "If so, then does Lan and the rest of the guys know about this too? Just what in the world is going on here and who or what are these Chaotix?"

Before he could have the chance to even speak to his Indian friend, Dex heard the voice of Mana saying to all of them with a rather stern and serious tone in her voice, "We could talk all about it for once we find every one of Shadow's friends. Now, Dex wasn't it, do you know where Miguel and the Chaotix happen to be at this very moment?"

Right before he could give his answer to the female magician, the young curry chef heard the voice of his Navi answering her question while sounding thoughtful, "Urr, GutsMan knows that they're in Yai's treehouse right now stayin' for the time being so that they could find the remaining pieces of a green rock called a Chaos Emerald. Guts. Glyde told me that she and Maylu are takin' the pretty girl to a outlet store or something like that. Guts. Guts."

As soon as he heard those words come out of his digital friend's mouth, Dex began to shout out to the strong Navi with a rather panicked tone while at the same time shaking the device furiously like a turkey, "Then why didn't you say that to begin with, you bolt brain! For all we know, Maylu and Yai could be in trouble right now!"

That was when he felt someone's finger beginning to tap on his huge shoulder for while he continued to shake the living daylights out of GutsMan like he was a rag doll. The large kid soon found himself staring at the face of his friend Dingo while at the same time looking a bit flabberguast and dumbfounded for as he asked with a rather annoyed tone, "Dex, don't you think that you should save some of that energy for later and focus on what's important?"

"Dingo's right, big brother!" he heard Chisao saying to him with a rather enthusiastic tone in his young voice while at the same time looking up to him like a small mouse. "Shaking GutsMan around like that isn't going to help us! Isn't there something that we could do!"

As if to answer his question, the beeping of his P.E.T. suddenly erupted like a huge siren just as he ceased his torture on his Navi and answered the message. Before he knew it, Dex soon began to hear the frighten shriek of his childhood crush Maylu saying to him while at the same time looking around to see if there was anyone else in sight, "Dex! You guys got to get Miguel and the Chaotix and get them here as soon as possible! Miss Sylphiel is being attacked by those green pirate ghosts and she'd just given us the Chaos Emerald in her bag! Get over here before they could catch up and tell Miguel to...!"

That was all that the large kid heard before he saw nothing but static on the image screen of his P.E.T. as a sure sign that it was the end of the transmission. Before he could allow his mind to do some of the reasonable thinking, Dex suddenly went by his own natural instincts and went running out the door while at the same time shouting out these words, "Don't worry, Maylu! The brave and powerful Dex is on his way to the rescue!"

While continuing his searching throughout the Net City in order to find source of the enormous amount of power, Bass was beginning to feel his temper reaching its limit. Surges of his own great power began to erupt from his body and unleashed is fury towards anything that was unlucky enough to get in its path, Navi or otherwise. That was because of all of the leftover data and power that he'd absorbed from the once unstopable program of light and darkness: Nebula Grey. It was also the very thing that gave the cloaked Navi the power he needed in order to defeat his outer space rival Slur and erase her from existence.

_"Damn! Just where the hell is this energy source coming from!"_ the Black Shadow thought to himself just as he felt his anger starting to erupt from his body and caused the city from below to tremble. _"It feels like that the great power that I'm sensing from either that human and the Chaos Emerald is everywhere at once! If only I could get into the real world! But those inferior humans have taken that robotic body that I've once had before I've faced off with Slur. Even with the power that I've absorbed from Nebula Grey, I'm still trapped in the Cyber World with no access what so ever to the human world!"_

Just before he could allow his frustration to take over and even attempt to power up an attack that could wipe out a good portion of Net City, Bass suddenly focused his full attention on a clan horde of viruses of all kinds that seemed to be heading towards a one direction. Feeling like the deletion of this huge group would ease his anger a bit, the cloaked Navi was soon calm enough to notice the bright green rip-like light that he saw them heading towards to. As soon as he got a close enough to see what attracted the viruses to the bright green light, the Black Shadow soon found himself staring at what appears to be an entrance to the human world. A menacing grin soon crossed his face for when he saw the opportunity openned up right in front of him.

_"It looks to me that I wouldn't have to resort to using Sci Lab's own Dimensional Area Generators in order to get into the human world," _Bass thought to himself while at the same time watching the numerous amount of viruses vanishing into the human world through what appears to be his only way in. _"Whatever force is causing the barriers between this world and the human realm to break apart is sort of blessing to me. Heh! These viruses don't even know how this mysterious phenomena that just occurred just now. Now's the time for me to take this opportunity to take my revenge on the humans who would dare to oppose me and enter into their world. But in order to fully become the most powerful being in the world, I'll have to get that Chaos Emerald first in order to do so."_

Just as the cloaked Navi approached the dimensional rip in front of him, the viruses that were gathering there trembled with fear and panic and soon began to run for their very lives for when they realized and sensed who they were up against. As soon as he reached hole that's between both the Cyber World and the Real World, the Black Shadow began his inspection on what appears to be a doorway to his very freedom. But just before he could have the chance to peek what's on the other side of the dimensional hole, Bass's body soon began to surge with unidentified and great power that was being emitted by the hole between time and space. Not only that, but it was also causing him great pain. Pain so great that he couldn't believe that he himself was about to experience it.

_"Just what powerful force have made all this pain for me?" _the cloaked Navi thought to himself just sas he tried his best to understand what just happened to him as well as seeing the portal to the human world disappearing before his eyes. _"Damn it! The only doorway to the human world is starting to seal itself! It appears to now only allow those small viruses to enter the real world without much difficulty! There has got to be another way for me to...!"_

Before he could have the chance to finish the rest of his thoughts, Bass suddenly felt another surge of energy beginning to erupt at a different location. This in turn allowed him to think to himself with much more clearer thoughts, _"Hmmm. So it seems that there's more than one of these dimensional gateways that are opening. I don't know what's causing all of this to happen, but I have to take this opportunity before it disappears! I won't allow anyone or anything to interfere with my revenge! Not even MegaMan and his dumb NetOp as well as that human, Miguel!" _

With those thoughts done in his mind, the cloaked Navi began to fly towards his destination towards what appears to be another gateway to the human world before he could feel it closing like the first one.

**End of Part 10**


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes to Readers:** Sorry for the delay in updating my fic folks. I've been a bit absent minded as of late trying to get this part of the fic finished as well as work on other things that I've been meaning to do. But I assure you that I didn't mean to get this fic this long. I guess that it's a habit of my for me to write this long. In any case, I should thank anyone who has review the chapters of this fic for their opinions. I would also like to extend my thanks to the group known as **Generation-A** and the person named **Anime Master Zero**. I don't know what I would be able to do without their support and stories. Well, with all that said and done, I'm going to end this note by saying that the characters in the story do not belong to me but to their own respective owners. Well later and enjoy the chapter!

**Part 11**

Just as soon as he was about to arrive at the scene, Lan soon found himself greeted by some nearby traffic caused by cars that have somehow crashed near one another as well as a large group of people that looked as though they were going away from an awful car accident. However, for when he saw the source of the disturbance, the boy soon found himself startled for he saw that the cause of the scene was a huge group of viruses that he heard about a while back starting to go on a rampage throughout the city streets. Metools as well as large groups of Spookies, Killereyes, Mushies, and even the powerful Scuttlest viruses are rampaging towards the streets of the huge city.

"MegaMan, it looks as though that the report about those viruses wasn't wrong after all!" Lan said to his Navi with a surprised tone hanging in his voice as he continued to watch the battle scene from afar.

"Well, I think that we both know about what we should do for when this sort of thing gets out of hand," he heard the blue Navi saying with a tone of both a knowing and proud tone noted in his own voice. "The question that only needs to be answered would be whether or not that you've brought it along with you or not."

As if to respond to his little blue friend's question, Lan began to reach into his pocket to see if he still has the item that MegaMan was talking about. After a moment of searching, the boy soon found what he was looking for: the Synchro Chip. It was the very same device that his own father created that would allow him to fuse with his own Navi using a new ability called Cross Fusion. The very same ability that allows him to take on the form of MegaMan as well as use his special abilities. Cross Fusion however could only be achieved with the use of the new Dimensional Generators that Sci-Lab had built thanks to the unexpected assistances of the former leader of World Three: Dr. Wily. If it weren't for either his father's invention as well as the former leader of the World Three, then he nor MegaMan would've been able to take care of the Darkloids, Nebula, Duo, or the Asteroid Navis all by himself.

Of course, there were others that were able to Cross Fuse with their own Navis and he wouldn't forget the experience that he just had. But before he could have the chance to even think about the people that were able to Cross Fuse, Lan's mind suddenly snapped itself back up just in time to see some of the virues beginning to advance towards him like animals. "Yikes! I'd better not waste any more time wondering about past memories!" he said out loud to himself just as he reached his P.E.T. and began contacting Mr. Famous in order to get a Dimensional Area as soon as possible while at the same time skating in order to evade any attacks launched towards his direciton. "Mr. Famous, I need a Dimensional Area over here on the double! Quickly!"

"I'll get right on it, Lan," he heard the voice of the Net Official saying to him with a rather serious sounding tone before speaking again. "And by the way, the name is just Famous! (Sighs) Also, both you and MegaMan have some rather explaining to do about that little behavior of yours for when you and Chaud finish wiping out the viruses! Over and out!"

As soon as the transmission ended, he saw that the entire portion of the city that he was in was becoming discolored with what appears to be a Dimensional Area over head. Then Lan began to once again see only the image of MegaMan right in front of the holographic screen of his Personal Terminal before he said with a rather defeated sigh, "Well, it looks as though that we're in for quite a long talk with both Famous and Chaud for after this is all done with!"

"Let's just keep our minds on getting rid of the viruses first and then worry about dealing with our chat with those two later, MegaMan!" the head-banded teen said to his Navi while at the same time reaching into his pocket and began to fish out his Synchro Chip again so that he could try to Cross Fuse. "Let's also be grateful that the P.E.T. was able to save all of the stored Battlechip data that I've had the last time we've had our battle! Now let's do this!"

With those words said and done, Lan began ready his Synchro Chip into position right near the port of his P.E.T. and began to shout out before downloading it., "Alright! Synchro Chip, in and download! **_Cross Fusion!_**"

With that command being shouted out and for when he slotted in his Synchro Chip, Lan soon found his entire form being engulfed in bright light that would always happen for whenever he did Cross Fusion with his Navi. After what seems to be like about ten minutes, the light began to dissipate and soon he was in a suit that nearly resembles that of MegaMan's. Everything from the helmet to his gloves and boots resembles that of his blue Navi's own suit. Even MegaMan's icon emblem was present right on top of his very chest for after it happened.

As soon as he faced the wild viruses which he saw were dumbfounded at what just happened, the young Netbattler began to raise his right arm while at the same time transforming into his main weapon, the Mega Buster, appearing in its place and he pointed it towards their direction. "Alright! Time to take care of business!" Lan shouted out before pointing his weapon towards the viruses that suddenly realized that they were in the middle of trying to figure out if the very being in front of them is really a human or Net Navi. "Time for us to show these viruses never to mess with the two of us for when we work together! Mega Buster!"

While having his own driver continuing to drive the limo at a great speed, Chaud was still trying to figure out what Lan had said earlier about the gem shard that he has in his possession called a Chaos Emerald. "It looks as though Lan is involved in something that might have to do with that mysterious person that could be responsible for all of those weird and unexplained occurances that have been happening around here," the black and white haired NetBattler saying to ProtoMan while at the same time seeing his limo speeding through the window. "But knowing the kid, he probably has reasons for hiding somethings from us. But the question is why?"

"I was about to get some answers from MegaMan for while I was questioning him, Chaud," he heard his red friend responding with a serious tone while at the same time seeing his entire image appearing right before his eyes. "But then the same disturbance that's been giving this city problems has chose that exact moment to intervene and cause our data to somehow become scrambled. But the weird thing about it is that it didn't corrupt or erase our data like a normal magnetic field would for when it reaches a computer or any advanced machinery like that. It feels as though it wasn't like any natural from this world."

"We could get all the answers from Lan and MegaMan later for when we take care of these viruses that have been appearing right in the middle of the city," Chaud replied to the long-haired Navi while at the same time pushing the button to the intercom of the limo and began speaking through it. "Stop right here, Hawkins! I would be able to walk from over here! Get to a safe place until I contact you. Is that understood?"

"As you wish sir," was the response of his private driver while at the same time feeling the limo coming to an immediate halt before starting to open the door.

As soon as he was outside of confines of his private transportation and moved away from it to see what the extent of the damage was, the skunk-haired boy began to see what he expected to see. What he saw were a horde of viruses that consisted of different variety and type attacking buildings as well as the empty cars that were unlucky enough to be in the streets which are now nothing more than burning scrap metal. But all of that soon changed for when he saw the streets as well as the very buildings themselves began to become multi-colored with what appears to be a Dimensional Area. As soon as he saw this happening, Chaud soon began to face his own P.E.T. towards him and began to say to ProtoMan with his usual serious tone, "Looks as though this party is already beginning without us, ProtoMan. Do you think we should crash it?"

"I'd thought that you'd never ask, Chaud," he heard the voice of his Navi saying to him just as the young Net Savior checked his own Personal Terminal to see if he'd equipped the right Battle Chips for the job that were stored in the data bank of the device.

He then began to fish through his pockets in order to find the very object that would allow him to gain the powers that his Navi has: the Synchro Chip. As soon as he found the very thing that would allow him to Cross-Fuse, Chaud began to position the device towards the slot where he would usually download his own Battlechips and shouted out, "Let's get this over with, ProtoMan! Synchro Chip in and download! **_Cross-Fusion!_**"

As soon as he placed the Synchro Chip into the slot of the P.E.T., Chaud was soon engulfed in a bright light that surrounded his entire being. After what appears to be about a moment of being enveloped in the bright spectacle, the black and white haired Net Battler began to stand in front of the attacking viruses while at the same time seeing that he's now in his Cross-Fused form. It was much like ProtoMan's own suit. However, it was modified a bit in order to make it look a bit different than the red Navi's and even the hair that now flowed down behind his back was a mix of white and black almost like his own natural hair color.

As soon as he was aware that some of the viruses were beginning to approach his direction while looking poised to attack, Chaud didn't need to be told about what to do in the situation that he's in. He began to raise one of his arms in front of him and suddenly his hand began to shine with a red light which soon turned into the shape of a sword. As the light from his hand dissipated and revealed his main weapon, the now Cross-Fused NetBattler began to swipe at the approaching viruses while shouting out, "Sonic Boom!"

With those words shouted out, he saw what appears to be a blade of wind bursting from his crimson blade and charging itself towards the viruses direction. _"I know that Lan must have his hands full with another group of these things," _Chaud thought to himself just as he began to charge at one of the groups of Mushy viruses that began to notice his very existence and slashed at them one by one. _"But what I'm most concerned about is how these viruses managed to get into this world without the use of a Dimensional Area. It couldn't be Duo that's doing this. So what or who in the world could be causing this to happen?"_

With those thoughts done in his mind, the red-armored boy began to hear the voice of ProtoMan saying to him through his helmet while he charged towards a group of Metools that tried to shield themselves from his attack but to no avail, "Chaud, I've just got a message from HQ. It looks as though that most of the people that are in the area have either been evacuated or ran towards the undergrounds shelters so that they wouldn't be in the way. Also, apparently you and Lan aren't the only ones that are doing their best to fight off these viruses. The individuals that are attacking these virues along with the both you in order to either subdue these viruses."

"Well, it's good that we are receiving help that Laika and the rest of the others are giving us," Chaud responded to his friend as he swiped the blade of his sword towards a large group of Bunnies that soon disappeared one after another. He knew that Maylu was capable of Cross Fusion with her pink Navi Roll along with Dingo and TomahawkMan who are currently taking residents within DenTech City in order to help Dex with the deliveries in #1 Curry. As for the serious and precise soldier Laika from Sharo, he's still in his home country along with his Navi SearchMan in order to protect their country from any incoming invaders that would threaten it.

"I don't think that either one of the former Cross-Fusion Members have anything to do with sudden assistance, Chaud," he heard ProtoMan saying to him while he once again saw another group of Metools beginning to raise their picks and began to launch a huge shockwave towards his direction while at the same time dodging it. "You see, according to what the people at the main building heard from most unconfirmed sources, they say that the citizens were all saved and assisted by these strange human-like creatures that resembles animals."

The Chaotix immediately went to work for as soon as they've landed on the ground. Vector, being the leader that he usually is, charged head first at the first group of what appears to be computer viruses attacking the city. In his personal opinion, the green croc thought that they would be pretty harmless since looking the part. But after experiencing of what the strange things are capable of by nearly getting wiped out by their own attack, he wouldn't hesitate to turn these weird things into nothing but pixels. As soon as he was in close enough range within the little creatures, Vector threw one of his fists towards a creature that looked as though it could be used as a cute stuffed animal from the way that it look under its protective helmet.

But before his fist could collide with the small creature's hidden face, he saw it ducking itself beneath it's helmet and soon his fist collided with its metallic surface. Despite the fact that his natural abilities have been increased thanks to the power of the Power Rings, Vector could not believe that the little thing was able to defend itself against such as strong attack from his own fist. As soon as he backed away from the strange creature, the green crocodile saw that its many companions, which looked identical to their comrade, looked at him with furious expressions on their hidden faces. Then, what he saw next was that the cute looking helmet creatures beginning to raise what appears to be pick axes from into the sky and began to hit them towards the ground beneath their tiny feet. Like he saw before, a powerful shockwave was charging towards his direction while trying to hit their mark.

Just before he could have the chance to dodge or even react to the little creature's united assault, Vector soon saw Charmy flying quickly towards him with a great speed and before he could have the chance to protest, he saw the small bee beginning to emit a powerful aura of orange energy. Before he knew it, the two of them were surround by an energy dome that shielded them from the full impact of the attack. As soon as the attack finally passed, he saw the huge orange dome beginning to disappear only leaving a stunned group of the creatures to look at them with confusion written all over their face.

"Charms, just how in the world did you...?" was all that the green crocodile could say to his little friend before his words were cut short by what appears to be an earthquake of sorts.

Mighty just slammed both of his fists for when he saw that both of his friends were being attacked by the group of strange helmet creatures. The black and orange armadillo saw the result of the action that he'd just taken. The fissure that he created with his two fist charged itself towards the direction on where the little strange viruses are. He also saw both Vector and Charmy moving out of the way of the attack as if they were both running from a bull stampede. As soon as he saw the attack hit its mark, Mighty saw the slithering fissure turn into a monstrous crater and engulfing the little innocent-looking creatures within it the darkness below never to be seen again. He himself, along with the rest of the Chaotix, couldn't believe at the action that he'd just cause. Of course, the armadillo guessed that whoever had took all of their time to build the road in front of them would probably be a bit angry for if they saw the extent of the damage that he's caused.

"Whoa! Now that was some attack, Mighty my man!" Vector spoke with the amazed armadillo with an enthusiastic and amazed tone in his voice before turning his voice turing into a sort of growl of annoyance. "But would you care to warn us the next time you plan to launch an attack like that! I mean, that kind of punch would hurt more that peeling off a band aid!"

"Still, that's some attack that you've pulled with those helmet creatures, Might!" Charmy added to his green friend's words with both enthusiasm and excitement in his young voice. "Just how in the world that you were able to do that sort of thing anyway?"

Before the black and orange armadillo could have the chance to explain, Espio chose that exact moment to speak up while at the same time holding up on of his own shurikens out of his gloves with a serious tone, "We could all think about that later, guys 'cause we have more company on the way! I've already helped the local authorities to evacuate most of the citizens away from here, so we don't have to hold back."

As soon as the purple chameleon said those words, Vector, Charmy, and Mighty began to turn towards the direction where he's staring at in order to see what he's talking about. Before either of them knew it, another large group of the viruses creatures coming towards their direction. Only the group that they're looking at right now is made up in a strange variety. Some looked as thought they could be some type of living mushroom people. Another type of the viruses looked as though they could be mechanical bunny of some type with metallic-looking antennas for ears.

But just before either of them could have the chance to say anything, the Chaotix soon found themselves being attacked by the strange viruses creatures. The bunny-like creatures fired out bolts of what appears to be rings of electricity jumping out of their ears. The mushrooms that they've saw soon spurred out what appears to be yellow pollen from their own mouths and from their experiences on how a mushroom could contain different sorts of poison within their spores.

As the combinaton attack was about to hit their mark, Vector was finally able to step up in front of the viruses attack. Before either of his friends could have the chance to protest or shout out to their leader to watch, the green crocodile began to breathe in a huge amount of air into his lungs and the most amazing thing happened. What Vector did was that he let his mouth create a sonic blast attack that was so loud that it could practically crush anything within its path. Not only that, but it also caused most of the cars within the area they're in to blare out for as soon as the noise began. True to this, the assault was not only able stop the on coming attack that the strange computer viruses unleashed, but was also able to destroy the attackers as all four Mobians saw them disappear in a shower of pixels. As soon as the all of the noise caused by both Vector's attack and blaring sirens of the cars to cease, the Chaotix soon began to stare at the damaged buildings the huge croc caused.

"Well, look at it this way, Vec: you've managed to destroy those things without harming a single person," Charmy spoke for the first time since having his hearing checked in order to be sure that he didn't go deaf from the experience.

"I have to agree with Charmy on this one, Vec," Espio spoke to the green crocodile while at the same time trying to shake off the effects of Vector's surprising ability. "I mean, that attack you've just unleashed could've been loud enough to crush an entire army of those things. This makes me concerned about what other powers that those Power Rings gave us. But at least there's no one in this area that saw that just now or otherwise..."

"Uh, guys? I think that's it's too late to be relieved right now," they all heard Mighty saying while at the same time the three friends turned to see what the armadillo was talking about.

Before either of them knew it, the Chaotix soon found themselves being confronted by another large group of the same types of living computer viruses that they thought they've gotten rid of. "Aw, man! These things just don't know when to call it a day, do they?" Vector said out loud while feeling annoyed at the sudden appearance of the new groups of viruses before letting out a sigh of defeat. "(Sighs) Looks as though we get to see what else we're capable of, guys. What do you say we take care of this bunch too?"

"Well, if you want my opinion, Vec, I think that you're nuts if you think that we could take on this many," the purple chameleon said to the crocodile with a serious tone while at the same time readying his ninja star in order to throw it at the upcoming viruses. "But seeing that we're caught between a rock and a hard place, I guess that we have no other choice but to fight."

"Espy, you worry too much," Mighty said to his companion with a confident tone in his voice while at the same time cracking his knuckles while at the same time preparing for a fight. "You've forget that both Vector and I were able to take two groups on our own. Just image what the four of us would be able to do with the Power Ring's power backing us up."

"Might's got us there, Espy," Vector said just as he turned towards the large virus army's direction while at the same time cracking his own knuckles. "Now, if everyone's finished talkin', let's get down to business and show these guys why they should never mess with the Chaotix!"

As soon as the green croc said those words, both he and Charmy began to charge towards one side of the large army of strange looking viruses while Mighty and Espio charged towards the other direction of the army. Before either of the two groups of Mobians could have the chance to launch their attacks or fists towards their new attackers, they heard familiar terrified screams of young females coming towards their direction.

Both Maylu and Yai were still running for their lives for as the group of green pirate ghosts continued to tail them in the allies. The two girls were running for their lives for the past half hour since having separated from Sylphiel and now they're running for both of their lives with the bag that the shrine maiden had with her that contains her other clothing as well as the Chaos Emerald. Before either of the small girls could have the chance to take a moment to breathe, Maylu was the first to scream for when she felt a small hand pulling on the skirt of her new white dress. As she was about to give whatever just frighten her a boot with her shoe for when she saw that it was none other than the little cyber dog Rush ducking in order to endure what pain that she was about to bring.

"Rush! What in the world are you doing here!" the pink-haired girl said to her little strange companion while at the same time forgetting about the green pirate ghosts with a annoyed tone. "You nearly scared me half to death for when you've pulled on my skirt like that!"

As if to respond to her words, both she and Yai saw the little cyber dog barking and rushing furiously as if trying to mimic a play of sorts. Of course, neither one of them could make out what Rush was trying to say to them. "Maylu, I think that we might need Roll to translate for us on this one," the little rich girl said to her friend while at the same time feeling a bit confused at the weird gestures that Maylu's pet was trying to give.

"Yai's got a point there, Maylu" both of the girls heard Roll saying to the her NetOp while at the same time trying to calm herself down at what just happened. "I think that Rush might've found something for while you two are running for your lives from those green pirate ghosts."

"Aup! Aup!" Rush responded with a calm tone while at the same time nodding his head as if to confirm the pink Navi's suspicions.

"Okay, now that you're calm, think that you could tell us what you just saw while both Maylu and Yai were running from those ghosts creatures?" Roll patiently asked the cyber dog from the screen of Maylu's pink P.E.T. while both Maylu and Yai listened to what he had to say.

That was when the three of them saw Rush beginning to make his entire face into the shape of some type of wolf face. The then began to growl and bare what appears to be fierce claws appearing out of his innocent paws. As soon as they saw him reverting back to his normal form, both Maylu and Yai began to become confused with what they just saw the cyber dog perform. Glyde was the very first to state this fact.

"Miss Yai, I'm afraid that what Rush is saying is sort of foreign to me," the butler Navi said to his own NetOp while at the same time trying to understand what the brown dog was trying to say.

"I think I could make out on what he's trying to say," Roll said to her friend while at the same time trying to hear what Rush was trying to say through her NetOp's P.E.T. before speaking again. "Hmmm. This might sound weird to everyone but I think that Rush says that he's seen some strange werewolf man out here in the streets holding a weapon of some type and he's sniffing around the area looking for something."

As soon as the two of them heard those words come out of the female Navi's mouth, Maylu said to Yai with a now frightened tone, "Well, after seeing all of those pirate ghosts starting to appear out of nowhere, there's no way that I would stop believing in these type of things like werewolves coming to this world! But what I want to know is why those things are attracted to this Chaos Emerald that Sylphiel was holding onto!"

"I don't think that we would be able to find out the answer to that questions because those green ghosts have just caught up with us!" Maylu shouted out for when they turned to see that the group of pirates beginning to catch up with them with menacing grins on their faces for as they've approached the group.

"Arr! Ye thinks that you could get away from us for long, eh lassies?" one of the pirates shouted out loud while at the same time pointing his rusty-looking sword towards the two girls direction while at the same time seeing Rush cowering right behind Maylu. "Well, it looks like the end of the line for you two young lasses. But since I'm a nice fella, I'll allow you gals to make an offer that you be fools to refuse. Now, just hand over that Chaos Emerald that you've got in your possession and me along with me mates will leave you both alone without any trouble."

As soon as the ugly green pirate was done talking about his offer, the two girls were both shocked and confused at what to do. But when they both turned to Rush to see what he had to offer, both Maylu and Yai were both clearly disgusted for when they saw the cyber dog beginning to grab onto the bag that the pink-haired girl was holding for Sylphiel indicating that they should just hand the emerald over to the green spirits. The two girls glared at the dog for when they figured what he was trying to tell them.

"Well, both me and my friend here would like to say that we won't give this emerald to the likes of you...you...you monsters!" Yai said to what suppose to be the leader of the pirate group that were chasing them while at the same time seeing the confused and yet angered expressions on their faces.

"I agree with Yai on this one!" Maylu added to her little friend's words with both anger and courage in her voice while at the same time seeing the group starting to put their hands towards their swords. "If all of you want this emerald so bad, then you're going to have to take it from us in order to get it, you ugly creeps!"

With those words said and done by the two girls, they heard the leader of the ghost pirate group beginning to shout to them with fury in his voice, "Argh! Alright, girlies, I've tried to be nice with you and that dumb mutt yurs, but now you've lead me no other choice! Alright men, charge and take the emerald!"

As soon as they've both heard the command being giving by their leader, both of the girl heard the battle cries of the entire pirate gang beginning to erupt like an echo throughout the alley that their in. Yai began to hold onto her friend with her dear life while Maylu began to hold onto her little friend's body like a teddy bear while Rush was too frighten to even create a hole that would lead him towards the safety of the Cyber World. Both of the girls along with the cyber dog screamed for their very lives for when they were sure that tortures beyond their imagination would be coming their way.

But just as they thought that they were going to be caught by the green group of pirates, the three friends heard the shouting of a familiar young voice shouting out loud, "Leave both Maylu and Yai alone, you green creeps! Take this!"

When the two of them heard that child-sounding voice coming from out of nowhere and before they knew what was happening, both Yai and Maylu began to see a rather powerful storm of green electricity beginning to collide with the ghost group causing them to disappear from existence. As the two female friends began to wonder about what or who could've thrown such a powerful electrical attack, both the girls and the cyber dog began to turn to see what kind of source was able to release such power. That was when they've both saw what appears to be a golden lit Charmy flying right in front of them while giving off a rather bright golden aura around his body.

"Charmy! Just how in world were you able to defeat all of those green pirate ghosts so quickly? And what's with this yellow light all around you?" asked Maylu asked the young bee right in front of her while at the same time still a bit confused at what she's seeing right now.

"We'll tell ya all about it for once we get you two young ladies to safety," they both heard the voice of the green crocodile saying to them with a rather heroic tone in his voice while at the same time seeing him appearing right in front of them as they've also saw the same golden aura being shoned off of him while at the same time turning towards their direction. "Right now, just leave these things to us and get to some shelter while the Chaotix Detective Agency sees to it that these things are no match for us with our brand new super powers!"

"Vec, let's just get this over with before you get a swelled head with those powers of yours," both Maylu and Yai heard Charmy saying to the older green Mobian with a rather annoyed snort just as they saw the young bee boy starting to hover right besides his older friend. "Besides, we've got a job to do and we've got to get rid of these things as soon as possible before any more of the people around here get hurt."

"Wait a minute! Just where in the world is Sylphiel?" the two girls heard the voice of the purple chameleon Espio saying to his two friends while at the same time sounding both worried and serious just as he appeared out of nowhere abnd faced their direction. "Wasn't she with the two of you for when you three went shopping? Just what happened to her and where's the Chaos Emerald that she was holding? Don't tell me that it's in the hands of those pirates!"

"Whoa! Easy, Espy! I'm sure that the girl could take care of herself as well as Miguel can," they both heard the black and orange armadillo saying to them just as the two girls saw him emitting the same golden aura as the rest of his friends. "Besides, Miguel is on the case while we take care of these viruses. Now, what we're really worried about is that Chaos Emerald that she had."

"Well actually, she gave the emerald to both me and Maylu just before the two of us ran from those green things," Yai responded to the outer worldly visitors while at the same time grabbing onto the bought store bag that both she and her red-haired friend was holding onto for the shrine maiden. "Miss Sylphiel said that she would be able to hold them off while we try to escape from the scene. I sure hope that she's doing okay."

"I wouldn't worry about that, Maylu. Like we said before, Miguel is right on the case," they heard the green crocodile saying to the two of them while at the same time seeing him facing what appears to be like about five dozen viruses coming their way. "Right now, we've better get our hides focused on taking care of these irrating critters right away before we become dog chow."

"For once, I have to agree with Vec on this one," Espio said while at the same time beginning to throw what appears to be ninja stars towards a group about like a dozen different viruses and saw them exploding right in front of their eyes. "I don't know that we would be able to keep these things from harming any people for long. It's a good thing that the people that live around here evacuated the area at the first sign of danger or otherwise a lot of them would've been hurt through the battling we've been doing with these things."

"You've got that right, Espy," Charmy said while at the same time throwing a bolt of electricity towards another group of viruses that soon exploded while at the same time. "I'm not too sure if we could take care of these things by ourselves even with the power boost that we've received from the Power Rings, those viruses keep popping up all around the place like ants in a picnic and we're on the menu!"

"Charmy's right about that, guys," Maylu and Yai heard Mighty saying while at the same time seeing him going head to head with what appears to be a huge Gaia virus throwing down its big hammer down on him while seeing the black and orange armadillo holding the heavy part of the huge weapon. "(Grunts) I'm not too sure how long would the power of the rings last. Their power is very limited and (Grunts) I think that we (Grunts) might be (Grunts) in need (Grunts) of some (Grunts) help!"

With those words said by their Mobian friend forcing the huge virus back with the mere strength of his arms and hands. While seeing the Gaia being deleted right in front of their sights, the two girls soon saw a group of a dozen Spiky3 viruses coming towards them while baring their teeth towards their direction. "I think that those things aren't too happy to see us," Yai shouted out while at the same time beginning to go behind her red-haired best friend with the cyber dog Rush before getting an idea. "Hey! I've got an idea! Maylu, can you and Roll still perform Cross Fusion like you did with those Asteriod Navis that appeared six months ago?"

"Cross Fusion? What are you girls talkin' about?" Charmy asked the young rich girl with a confused and curious tone to his voice just before seeing the little dog virus right next to her and Maylu. "And what in the world is that! It looks like one of those doggy cartoon characters that I've liked to watch on TV!"

"Oh, that's Rush, Charmy," Maylu explained to the little bee just before her voice's tone turned hasty. "But we'll talk about that later! Right now, Yai raised an interesting point! But even if we want to, we need to be in a Dimensional Area in order for Cross Fusion to work!"

As soon as the red-haired girl said those words, everyone saw the entire area that they're in beginning to become discolored. Before anyone could ask about what was happening, they turned towards the little brown dog-like virus beginning to quiver with fear of the thought of what his owner and her friend talked about. Before anyone could ask what was going on, a black hole suddenly appeared on the cemented ground and Rush started to run towards it. However, just before the brown cyber dog could have the chance to jump into the hole, he was then stopped by some invisible force that seemed to stop him in his tracks.

"And just where do you think you're going, Fido?" both girls heard the voice of Espio saying to the cyber dog floating in mid air just as they saw the purple chameleon appearing from out of nowhere like a special movie effect. "Just what is it that you guys are talking about that caused this dog to turn into a little scaredy cat?"

"We'll talk all about it for when this is over, Espio," Maylu responded to the purple chameleon while at the same time pulling out her own P.E.T. towards herself as she stared at the little cartoon-like brown cyber dog with a glare towards him. "Rush, now's not the time for you to start acting like a little fraidy cat! Right now, the Chaotix need all the help that they could get seeing that these viruses are coming towards us like killer bees! So turn into a Rush Synchro Chip already before we're all going to become a huge crater in the ground!"

With those words said by the red-haired girl, everybody saw the little cyber dog leaping into the air while at the same time shining with a rather white bright light. Before anyone could say anything about what has happened, they all saw what appears to be a gold and blue computer chip that's about the size of a potato chip that soon landed into Maylu's own hands. That was when Vector chose that time to speak after finishing off a few of the Spiky3 viruses with a sudden burst of water coming from his own huge mouth.

"Alright, would you mind tellin' us what's going on here now, girl?" the green crocodile said to Maylu while at the same time feeling confused about what just happened. "Why did that dog of yours suddenly turned into one of those huge computer chips that I've seen Tails used once in one of his huge inventions? Also why is this entire area all discolored like a broken TV set?"

"Well, you're about to see the reason why in a minute, Vector," Maylu said while at the same time holding up and positioning the chip towards her own P.E.T. while at the same time speaking with a rather serious tone in her own voice. "Okay, Roll, let's do this! Rush Synchro Chip in and download! Cross Fusion!"

As soon as she placed the device into her own Personal Terminal, Maylu began to glow with a white light that seemed to light up everything within its path. Even the upcoming viruses that noticed the phenomenon frozen in their places for as the pink-haired girl began to become engulfed within the light's embrace. "Whoa! What's happening with Maylu, Yai?" Mighty asked the little girl with a rather surprised tone in his voice while at the same time stopping his attack on the the wolf-like colored viruses that stopped their attacks because of the distraction.

"Well, you're about to find out soon enough, Mighty," Yai said while at the same time beginning to grin as she held the fashion bag that Sylphiel once held her clothes and the Chaos Emerald inside. "Let's just say that reinforcements have arrived!"

Ever since leaving the two girls to run for their lives, Sylphiel started to charge herself, along with her magical flaming sword in hand, towards the green pirate spirits that wanted to get the Chaos Emerald from them before. Fortunately for her, the powerful gem along with the girls are out of harm's way and now that she was in a place with the green entities that's totally deserted and doesn't have a single speck of life coming from it, the shrine maiden wouldn't have to worry about anything but her own safety. But the thought of having to take care of an entire group of creatures by herself even with the powers of her flaming weapon as well as her now enhanced abilities.

_"I just hope that it would be enough to get me through it," _Sylphiel thought to herself while at the same time concentrating on attacking the pirates one by one, colliding her fiery blade's with one of the ghost's own weapon. _"I'm sure that the girls would be able to get away and get some help in no time. But what am I going to do in order to keep those things at bay? I'm not too sure if I would be able to hold them out on my own even with my new powers." _

The shrine maiden soon ceased her thoughts for when she saw the blade of one of the green pirate ghosts slashed its blade towards her direction. Sylphiel have just barely managed to avoid the attack for it just managed to slash at the cloth of her new yellow sun dress that Yai had bought for her. For when she was far enough away from the ghostly creatures that cornered her while keeping her fiery sword towards their direction, the young woman surveyed the damage to herself to see if the green creatures caused any further damage to her. From what she could see, most of the gashes from the sword swipes that she'd received from the first moments that she was attacked from behind were starting to subside while the new ones were just flowing with her own blood.

But despite most of the energy that she lost in order to defend herself from their attacks, the shrine maiden is still willing to give the creatures a good fight no matter how injured she would become. Just as she kept her magical fire weapon towards their direction, Sylphiel heard the voices of one of the green pirate spirits saying while using a rather menacing tone in his voice, "Arr! Well, lads, I'd say that we've played around with this young lass long enough. What do you all say that we have our little fun with her?"

The shrine maiden heard the entire group shouting out with a loud "Arr!" to their voices while at the same time noticing that they were enthusiastic about their comrade's idea. From what she'd learned from her own world, Sylphiel knew that there would be bandits or thugs that would want to take advantage of helpless young women. But soon she would show those thugs that she was no longer the helpless young woman that she was before she arrived at Miguel's world for the very first time. Sylphiel then soon began to discard her own fiery weapon by making it vanish from her hands and began to position herself for a spell.

"Oh, source of all power, light which burns beyond crimson," the shrine maiden began to say while at the same time gathering what appears to be crimson energy within her hands, "let thy power gather in my hands!"

Just as she was about to finish the rest of her spell, the young woman heard the leader of the green spirit group saying with a rather confused and irrated tone in his voice, "What witchery are you planning, woman? From what we could hear from Master Dilgear, this world has no record of magic ever being used in it."

As soon as she heard those words, Sylphiel finally began to chant out loud while at the same time pointing the red crimson fiery energy towards the green group of ghosts, "FireBall!"

With those words shouted out, the shrine maiden found herself throwing the crimson ball of fire towards the group of the green pirates at a great speed. Before the collision of the magic ball of fire could be made with its targets, the young woman quickly managed to get herself away from the resulting explosion by shouting out, "Chaos Control!"

Just before the explosion could spread all across the narrow alley that she was in, Sylphiel saw time all around her beginning to cease. Before she knew what was happening everything around her very being; the movement of upcoming vehicles; the sound from any source of noise ceasing to existence; and possibly even the movement of any person that was nearby the entrance of the alley way. Just as the shrine maiden began to run out of the way of the soon coming explosion that was about to occur in a couple of moments, she looked around the outside of the city area to see if anybody was still in where she is now. Luckily, Sylphiel saw that not a single human being or animal was in in the area just as she exited out of the narrow pathway.

As soon as she was out of the way of the alley's entrance, the shrine maiden then began to focus her mind on allowing time around her to start up once again. While seeing everything around her beginning to move as it once did before, the young woman soon heard a loud explosion coming from the place that she was once in. While trying to avert her eyes from the sight and covering her ears so that the loud commotion wouldn't cause her to go deaf, she then began to duck for cover near the entrance of a abandoned building so that any debris fallen off of the buildings nearby wouldn't collaspe on her. As she felt the explosion ceasing, Sylphiel then uncovered her ears, opened her eyes, and came out of hiding from the building in order to see the extent of the damage that she had caused with her own FireBall spell as she began to walk towards the alleyway entrance.

What the shrine maiden saw for just when the smoke of the entrance cleared, she saw that the small ball of fire that she unleashed upon the green creatures didn't do much damage to the buildings that were nearby them. As for everything else that was in the narrowed just before her spell, well it's safe to say that nothing of value was damaged to say the least. _"I just don't know how Miss Lina was able to do this sort of thing for whenever she faces a group of bandits,"_ Sylphiel thought to herself while at the same time breathing deeply in order to put some oxygen into her lungs after leaning herself against the wall in order to rest. _"But doing the Chaos Control in order to freeze time itself wasn't easy for me either. It took a lot of energy from me in order to keep it going while trying not to collapse under the pressure. _

_"At least no one was in the area when I've launched that FireBall at those green pirates. I'm so surprised that it was that powerful to cause such a big explosion. I guess that most of the Chaos Emerald's energy is starting to increase my own magic and abilities as it did with Miguel's own natural abilities. Well, the important thing is that those things are no more and I should be able to rest easy without..."_

Her thoughts were soon cut short for when she felt a person's hand grabbing onto her arm with a strong and greasy grip. Before she knew what was happening, the shrine maiden saw a multitude of emerald-green hands and arms beginning to grip onto her arms and her legs in order to prevent her from escaping. Just as she was about to scream to the top of her lungs, another green hand appeared from behind her and sealed her entire mouth shut while at the same time prevent her from screaming for help.

As she was frantically trying to struggle away from her captors' greasy grip, Sylphiel saw the entire group of pirate ghosts emerging from within the walls of the two buildings that they were in. While trying to figure out what was happening, she saw the leader going up to her while at the same time pointing his dull-looking and huge-bladed sword towards the nape of her neck. The young woman was terrified for as she felt the cold steel of the sharp blade touch her chin carefully.

"Har! Well, it seems that we've got ourselves a little live wire here, boys!" the shrine maiden heard the leader saying to his comrades while at the same time seeing the green ghost grinning at her with a menacing grin to what appears to be nearly crooked-tooth face. "I must admit that that little stunt of yours did caught us off guard and managed to give us some damage, lass. But I would assure you that we would not allow that to happen twice!"

"Hey, boss! Why don't we take her as a hostage and force that boyfriend of hers as well as the rest of her little friends to give us the Chaos Emerald? Har," Sylphiel heard one of the green spirits saying to his leader with a sort thoughtful tone in his evil-sounding voice.

"Arrr. That's not a bad idea there, Swampy. If fact, it's just perfect," she heard the leader saying while at the same time feeling a bit frighten about what the one called Swampy suggested to his leader. "I'm sure that Master Dilgear would be pleased with this fine young lass along with Lord Shade. Arrr. As soon as we get the Chaos Emerald, I'm sure that he wouldn't mind if we keep this fine young lady so that we might have some fun with her. Har! Har! Har!"

As soon as she heard those words, Sylphiel's mind began to fill with panic for when she thought about what those green spirits were about to do to her. _"Oh my...please don't let me pass out like this!" _the shrine maiden thought to herself while at the same time beginning to lose her consciousness. _"I'm beginning to lose my...energy and strength fast. Using...the Chaos Control and running out of the way of the explosion...costed me a lot of energy. Someone please...help me. Father...Anyone...Miguel...!"_

Just as she was about to lose the her consciousness, the shrine maiden suddenly heard a familiar male voice shouting out, "Leave Sylphiel alone, you sick freaks!"

Before she knew it, she suddenly felt the arms of her captors releasing their greasy grips on her arms and legs as well as her mouth. Not only that, she could've sworn that she'd just saw a silver blade slicing through the limbs of the green bandits just before both her eyes were closed and darkness quickly taking hold of her sights. Just as she felt herself falling to the ground, Sylphiel felt the arms of someone trying to keep her from colliding to the solid ground below. From the way that the person was able to get a strong but gentle hold on her waist, the shrine maiden immediately knew who it was immediately.

_"Miguel...I knew that I could always...count on you to...look out for...me...," _was all that Sylphiel thought just before the last of her energy left her body and she soon felt herself drowning in a sea of unconsciousness.

As he carried Sylphiel's unconscious body by the waist with his free arm, Miguel pointed his Star Sword's blade towards the group of pirates that just managed to re-group and huddle so that they would show him that he was clearly outnumbered. But the teen didn't care at the moment for when he turned his full attention towards the shrine maiden. From what he could see, he saw that the young woman was wearing what once was a new yellow sleeveless sundress that has rips all over it. He could also see that from the look on her face, the shrine maiden was clearly exhausted from trying to fight off the green pirate ghosts that were now in front of him. The cuts that looked like that there were caused by a knife or sword is what really set him off just before he began to speak to the green spirits out of the world he's in now.

"I don't know why you bastards are here for or why you even exist at all, but you've made three mistakes," Miguel said to the group of pirates while at the same time gently laying Sylphiel sleeping body towards a nearby wall while at the same time keeping his weapon's silver blade towards the group as his voice turned dead serious and angry. "The first thing you did was showing up into this world at all with those ugly faces of yours. Secondly, attacking Sylphiel and threatening to put her up for ransom for the Chaos Emerald that you would never get your hands on. The third and final mistake that you guys made was trying to pick a fight with me! So back off or I'm going to show you guys what it means to be a victim!"

The teen saw some of the pirates of the group to back away from his direction while others managed to stay in their place without showing a hint of fear on their faces what-so-ever. Miguel then began to hear the voice of the leader saying to him with a rather smug tone in his voice while at the same time giving off an evil cackle, "Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Well, it seems that this little young land lover has a thing for the young lass over here, fellas! Ain't it romantic?"

As soon as he heard those words finish, the teen began to hear a series of evil and sick laughs coming from the entire green group while at the same time feeling his anger rising. Before he knew it, a very power aura of amethyst light began to envelope his entire body. Just as he continued to hold onto the Star Sword's handle with a strong grip while being surrounded by the dark aura, Miguel heard one of the pirates saying to his leader with a confused and yet terrified tone in his voice, "Arr, this guy's giving me the case of the chills, Davy. Perhaps, we should retreat while we still can before that land lover does something..."

"Shut your trap, Swampy! We're here because we've smelt the scent of the Chaos Emerald around the woman!" Miguel heard the leader of the green pirate group saying to his companion while feeling the dark energy within his body starting to gather within his own mouth. "Besides, I'm a smellin' a powerful scene of he jewel's power being emitted from that young lad's body. Now that we've know this, we could take both him and his lovely girlfriend to Master Dilgear so that he may take them to Lord Parasite."

As soon as he heard those words come out of the pirate leader's mouth, Miguel's temper suddenly rose to his limit for when he heard the pirate saying the name of the powerful creature that he and his friends had fought with the first time over a year ago. That was when he say to the green creatures while at the same time putting on an evil smirk on his face, "Here's something that scum like you aren't going to like and it's not something that you would forget either for when you get to Hell. It's a little something that I've picked up a while back while helping out a friend of mine. Heh! Heh!"

With those words said from his mouth, the teen began to take in a huge amount of air into his lungs while at the same time shouting out loud in a huge boom, "Dark Roar! Rrrroooaaaarrr!"

Before he even knew what was happening, Miguel felt a powerful vibrations of force going through his throat just as he began to let out a powerful and dark electrifying beam of electrified wind towards the green pirate group. As soon as the stream of wind and dark electric energy collided with the green pirates, the teens saw each of them fall apart into nothing while at the same time being shocked by the dark electricity it carried. The small tremor that it caused was almost enough to cause the buildings near him to collapse at any given moment. After a moment later, for when he ceased the attack that he'd unleashed, Miguel saw the amount of damage that he did to the buildings that he and Sylphiel were in between in. But that wasn't what caused him to become frozen with surprised for as he stared at the damage that he'd caused.

_"That attack that I've used. It was from that fusion Monster that both Kanzel and Mazenda created a while back,"_ the teen thought to himself while becoming a bit frighten for as he recalled the memory of the battle with the huge and horrifying Monster named Kanzenda entered into his memory that caused him to shudder. _"Kanzenda's Dark Roar attack that he'd used for while he was fighting both Shadow and Mana for when they've met each other for the first time. I can't believe that among all of the special abilities and techniques that I've gained at that time, I had to get that one. Sure it was able to wipe those pirates out of existence, but what does it mean to me for when it caused that small earthquake and...?"_

Miguel's own fearful thoughts were soon cut short and forgotten for when he heard the tired moaning of the shrine maiden coming from behind him, forcing him to start focusing on the safety of his female friend rather than his own thoughts. As soon as he reached towards Sylphiel's own semi-unconscious body, the young man began to concentrate on gathering white energy surround his entire hand and then placed it over her head while holding onto her body with his free hand. As the white energy began to jump off of his hand and flow all around the shrine maiden's own body, Miguel could see that the damage that she'd received from her own fight with the green spirits had started to disappear and not leaving a trace of their existence. However, the rips of her new yellow dress were still visible which also caused him to blush a bit in embarrassment.

However, the embarrassing thought was soon forgotten for when he heard the stirs of the shirne maiden becoming more active than the previous one. Before he knew it, Miguel saw Sylphiel beginning to regain the rest of her own consciousness thanks to the energy transfer that he made. As soon as he saw both of her emerald eyes open, the teen said to her with a quiet and gentle tone in his voice while stopping the while glow on his hand, "Hey, Sleeping Beauty. It's about time that you've woke up. Good thing that I was able to get here as soon as I did with the Chaos Control or otherwise you would've been in a real tight spot with those pirates. Oh, and I'm sorry that I wasn't able to fix your new dress while recovering your wounds."

A moment of silence followed as soon as Miguel said those words while looking onto Sylphiel's exhausted but smiling face. Before he knew what was going on, the teen was soon glomped by the shrine maiden for as he heard her saying to him in a happy tone while feeling her arms all around his neck that could've nearly choked him to death, "Miguel! I'm so glad that you saved me! Those things that attacked me wanted to use me to get you and the others to hand over the Chaos Emerald to them! Then, after that they plan to...to...to...!"

While hearing those words muttered out and feeling her arms loosening their strong hold on his neck, Miguel soon began to hear the shrine maiden beginning to sob onto his own shoulder just as he held her into his own embrace. This action caused the teen to blush a bit for as Sylphiel continued to cry underneath his shoulder, soaking his white shirt with her tear. "Shhhh, it's alright, Sylphiel. You're going to be alright now, shhhh," the teen said to the crying young woman in his arms with a soothing tone of voice while patting her back in order to calm her down like a parent would do for his own baby son or daughter.

As soon as he heard her sobs turning into calm and normal breathing, Miguel soon saw the shrine maiden beginning to face towards his face while at the same time seeing her cheeks still soaked with her own tears with a rose colored tone on them. "Th-Thank you for the comfort, Miguel. That really helped me out," he heard Sylphiel saying to him while hearing her hiccuping the last of her sadness away just before he saw her noticing the position that the two of them are in. "I must be a real burden to you crying like a little baby. I'm..."

Before he could allow the shrine maiden to begin her next sentence, the teen silenced her with the gentle touch of his index finger while at the same time saying to her with a friendly smile on his face, "Shhhh, don't apologize, Sylphiel. You didn't do anything wrong. It should be those greens creeps that deserve the blame. Besides, I don't really mind saving a beautiful damsel in distress like you."

With those words out of his mouth, Miguel began to blush profusely for when he found out what he just said and turned his face away from the young woman in order to hide it. He then heard the shrine maiden within his arms' embrace starting to giggle at the reaction that he was having just as he soon noticed that the two of them are still latched onto each other like little kids. This in turn caused the young man to blush into a brighter shade of red than the last one. After a few moments of being embarrased about the situation, Miguel turned his head to face Sylphiel once again only to have to stare deeply into her emerald-colored irises that her eyes have. From the way that the shrine maiden looked into his own eyes, he could tell that she didn't object to it. The two of them didn't say anything to one another as they both continued to look at each other straight in the eyes. Time seemingly standing still for the two of them as they stared at one another with confusion and yet affections towards each other.

Before either he or the shrine maiden could say or do anything that might make their moment with one another a bit more special, Miguel heard a familiar voice suddenly shouting out loud with rage in it, "Here's what happens to those that mess with the Ultimate Life Form! Something that I think that all of you would never forget on your way to Hell where you and those dogs came from! Chaos...Blast!"

As soon as the voice shouted out those words, the teen heard and then felt a powerful explosion erupting from within the deep part of the alley that both he and Sylphiel were in. While seeing some of the buildings cracking as a result of the powerful explosion, Miguel felt the arms of the shrine maiden beginning to grip onto him even tighter as much as he was doing with his own. As he felt the explosion dying down a bit and the rain of dust and debris ceasing their fall, the teen began to wonder to himself while not noticing that he still had the shrine maiden wrapped around his arms. _"What the hell was that explosion! It was powerful enough for the two buildings between the two of us to nearly collaspe and fall on us! Talk about rotten timing and ruining a perfect moment. What shocks me even more is the person that shouted out the words, 'Chaos Blast.' The sound of his voice is so familiar too. Could it be...?" _

Just before he could have the chance to finish the rest of his thoughts, Miguel heard Sylphiel's voice saying to him with a rather confused tone in her voice, "Miguel, what in the world was that explosion? And why is this area becoming discolored all of a sudden?"

As he heard those words, the teen began to look around the area in order to see what his female companion meant. True to her words, Miguel saw that the entire area that they were was becoming a discolored with an array of colors mixed in together like paint for a house. That was when a thought struck his mind like a ton of bricks. _"I've seen this sort of thing before," _he thought to himself just as he continued to unknowingly holding onto Sylphiel within his own arms just as he stared at the buildings around him more closely. _"And if this is what I think it is, then things around here are only going to get worse before they get better."_

While trying his best in order to get the green groups of pirates away from the crowded part of the city that he was in, Shadow saw that they were floating after him at a great speed. Not only that, but they were also causing a massive panic to arise within the public as they've passed by them as if they were aliens from another planet. _"Which is actually true," _the black hedgehog thought to himself while jumping over a random colored cars in the process while at the same time hearing most of the human people around him shouting either in surprise or fright. _"Damn, I can't let these green creeps cause any harm to the people of this world. But I can't unleash any of my attacks on those ghosts without risking the lives of these people either. I have to get them away from these people before anyone get's hurt. _

_"Judging from the way that they're focus is only on me, I'd say that they're only interested in me more than any of these people. If I could find the most secluded part of this huge city or get them to fly in the air, then I would be able to unleash my full power on them without having to worry about the safety of these people. Now, if only I knew where to go in order to attack." _

As if to answer his thoughts' question, Shadow heard a powerful explosion that erupted in a area that's about ten miles away from where he is run in now. While curious about the phenomenon that had just occurred, the Ultimate Life Form saw what appears to be a stampede of scared and frightened people coming towards him from the area that he the explosion coming from. _"Well, at least that answers my question," _the black hedgehog thought to himself just as he began to use his shoes in order to glide through the streets like a roller blader and jumping on random cars while at the same time leading the huge group of green spirit pirates away from the crowded area. _"Judging from the way that those people are running from that area, I'd say that something else is going on around here. If that's true, then the area that they were in would most likely be abandoned. That's good, because these green things are really starting to irritate me and I feel like unleashing my wrath on them right here and now! Also, those people over there are panicked enough with whatever has caused them to run for their lives without our presence."_

True to his thoughts, Shadow saw that the group of green pirate spirits continued to chase after him despite the fact that most of the people within the now crowded and active streets noticed their presence and started to panick even more than before. While trying his best to move out of the way in order to get to the place that he saw the explosion occur, the black hedgehog turned his head back just in time to see some of the green ghosts starting to catch up to him. With an irritated growl, the red and black hedgehog continued to glide his way onto the supposed deserted area while trying to gain more speed in order to outrun the flying green pirates still on his tail. As soon as he saw that the approaching streets that he's entering were all ravaged and abandoned with whatever caused the explosion that he saw while running before.

_"This place is as abandoned as I thought it would be," _the Ultimate Life Form thought to himself while at the same time stopping his own fast movement and turned his full attention towards the green pirates that stopped their pursuit of him. _"That's a good thing too. Now I won't have to hold my own power back in order to destroy these things." _

With those thoughts said and done, the black hedgehog faced the group of green pirates with one of his menacing looks that he gave his foes for whenever any enemy would get in his way. Shadow then heard the voice of the leader that calls himself Captain Blood looking at him with a rather menacing look on his face while at the same time unseathing his rusty-looking sword. "Arrr! Well, Well, Well, lads. It seems that that this black and red creature has finally stopped running and is ready to face all of us. He must be askin' to be killed if he thinks that he could take on all of us! What do you say that we put this spikey creature out of his misery?"

As if to answer their leader's question, Shadow heard the entire group of green pirates shouting out with a united 'Arrr!' to their voice while at the same time unseathing their own weapons in order to ready themselves for the attack. Just as the black hedgehog began to ready himself in a fighting position, he suddenly saw the ugly faces of the human-like spirits starting to become frighten. Before he could figure out what was happening, the Ultimate Life Form saw most of the green spirit creatures beginning to back away from him.

_"Hee! Looks like I've managed to scare those creeps off and showed them what happens for when they mess with the Ultimate Life Form,"_ the black hedgehog thought to himself with a grin on his face just before he noticed that the faces of the pirates weren't pointed directly at him. _"Hmm? What are those green ghosts looking at? Looks as though they themselves are looking at ghosts themselves. Just what is it that caused them to tremble in fear like...?" _

Just before he could have the chance to finish the rest of his thoughts, Shadow was suddenly struck on the back with something that felt like one of Lina Inverse's FireBall spells that he once felt. There was one thing that the Ultimate Life Form hated the most and that was being attacked in back while not knowing about it. While being enraged about the surprise attack, the black hedgehog turned to find the source of what caused the heat of fire to strike his back. What he saw next wasn't what he expected to see. What the Mobian saw was a huge group of dog-like blue creatures that appeared to be more like a pack of wolves getting ready to pounce on their prey.

_"Just what in the world are those things?" _Shadow thought to himself while at the same time beginning to glow a crimson light all across his body as his anger began to rise to the point to which he is willing to unleash it towards both sides in order to let them know how exactly he'd felt right now. _"Well, it doesn't matter now. Those dog creature made a very big mistake by throwing that fireball at my back and made me angry. And when I get angry, those things and the green pirates are going to get a real bang out of the surprise that I'm going to give to them." _

With those thoughts done within his mind, the black hedgehog began to turn his full attention back towards the green pirate ghosts for as he heard the leader Blood saying with both a confused and bewildered tone of voice, "Arrrgh! What trickery this be! Are you a sort of witch or something, you black pin cusion?"

As soon as he heard those words, the Ultimate Life Form gave the group of pirate spirit his own evil and menacing grin on his face as he answered to the leader as well as his other companions, "Hee! Hee! Hee! Well, I'd just thought that you would like to know that those blue dogs over there made a very big mistake for when they've struck me in the back while I'm not looking. When they did that, I get very angry and when I get angry, my anger is like a powerful bomb which you're about to see first hand! Good thing that the people of this area evacuated which means I don't have to hold back what I'm about to unleash!"

With those words said and done, the black hedgehog began to emit an even more powerful aura of crimson energy beginning to surge throughout his entire body just as he looked around himself and saw both parties becoming afraid about what's going to happen. The blue dog creatures that the threw the fireball at him suddenly started to whimper and coware with fear like little puppies trying to hide from a storm that's about occur. As for the green group of pirate ghosts, well he saw that most of them are starting to tremble with fear and anxiousness about what's going to happen while some try to hide their fear with their usual ugly faces showing their own bravery.

After what appears to be five minutes of waiting for the energy within him to charge, Shadow soon let out a mighty shout that was loud enough for him to be heard from five blocks away, "Here's what happens to those that mess with the Ultimate Life Form! Something that I think that all of you would never forget on your way to Hell where you and those dogs came from! Chaos...Blast!"

With those words shouted out from his throat, the black hedgehog soon radiated with a powerful burst of crimson energy that soon erupted into an explosion. The eruption of red Chaos Energy was so powerful that it felt as though about ten sticks of dynamite were being set off. The black Mobian looked around himself and saw the results of his attack appearing right before his eyes. The green pirate ghosts that once terrorized the restaurant that both he and Mana entered in their human forms as well as the blue dog-like creatures that attacked him from behind were soon erased from existence thanks to the destructive power of his Chaos Blast. As soon as explosion of energy ceased, the black hedgehog looked around his surroundings as he took in a breath of air into his lungs. From what he could see, the destruction that his Chaos Blast attack did was a bit more destructive than he thought it would do.

_"(Sighs) On a brighter note, no innocent humans were caught in the blast for when I've activated it," _the Ultimate Life Form thought to himself while still trying to catch his breath from all of the strain that he'd put on trying to perform his destructive attack. _"I've really got to watch my temper for when I use that move. But what I'm really more concerned about is what were those blue dogs that I've just saw a moment ago? They don't seem to be demons since I didn't detect any type of magic coming from that ball of fire that they've launched at me before. But they're different from what I've come across. Just what...?" _

Before he could have the chance to finish the rest of his thoughts, Shadow saw the entire area around him become discolored. The buildings, abandoned cars, everything within the area had become discolored with different colors all over them. Before he could think of anything that could've caused this, the black Mobian then heard a familiar voice shouting out to him while at the same time feeling a bit annoyed, "Shadow! What the hell! You could've blown both me and Sylphiel to Kingdom Come with that attack of yours! Just what were you thinking!"

As he turned to the source of the voice in order to see who it was, he soon saw that it was none other than the very person that he had been sent to find along with the Chaotix: Miguel Angel Arias. Despite the amounts of smoke that he had caused, the black hedgehog could plainly see that it was definitely the same human from the time first time that he was freed from possession caused by the mad wizard Ixis Naugus a long while back. As soon as he saw most of the smoke clear, Shadow could see that the shrine maiden Sylphiel Nels Lahda was with him as well. When he saw the both of them running towards him, the Ultimate Life Form could plainly see that the two of them were holding each other's hands as they both come up towards him.

"Well, it's about time that the two of you finally showed yourselves. I was starting to think that I would never be able to find the two of you," he replied to his two human friends while at the same time giving the two of them a sly grin as he turned his full attention towards their intertwined hands. "It seems that the two of you are having fun in each other's company while in this world."

When he said those words, Shadow saw both Miguel and Sylphiel turning their full attentions towards their hands just before quickly releasing them from their own grips and blushed at what they just did. Before he could come up with a comment about the whole thing, Miguel was the first to speak for as he said to him with a rather flustered tone while seemingly trying to change the subject, "Shadow, now's not the time for you to start taking shots at the two of us. Vector and the guys have already given the two of us enough trouble with their own shots as it is."

"Oh, so it seems that the Chaotix have been with the two of you after all," the Ultimate Life Form said to the teenaged human while at the same time looking towards Sylphiel's direction. "But what I'm most concerned about is how did Sylphiel managed to catch up with you guys into this world to begin with? I mean, Tails tried to see if he could pick up a trace of her own Chaos Energy within her own world, but didn't pick up a trace of anything."

Just before he could hear either of them give out a response to his question, Shadow suddenly heard a loud explosion far from the distance. Before either he or his two human friends knew was was happening, the black hedgehog saw that the three of them are being surrounded by a what appears to be a band of spider type creatures all around them. From the way that green arachnid type creatures were looking at them, he could tell that they were angry and annoyed.

"Miguel! Sylphiel! Did the two of you know where the Chaotix are right now?" the Ultimate Life Form said to the two human friends while keeping his crimson eyes on the creatures that were slowly approaching them. "If you do know where they are, then it would be wise for the three of us to warp where they are using the Chaos Control. I don't want to risk using another Chaos Blast on these spider creatures."

"Well, if you must know, Shadow, they're off dealing with viruses appearing in this world," he heard Miguel saying to him with a serious tone while at the same time feeling confused as to what he meant by what he said. "Don't ask why! It's a long story and we could talk about it as much as you want as soon as we get the Chaos Emerald out of harm's way!"

"Chaos Emerald? Are you serious!" the black hedgehog exclaimed with a very serious tone in his voice while at the same time turning to face his human. "Is that how the two of you and the Chaotix got to this world to begin with? If that's the case, where is it now?"

This time it was the shrine maiden's turn to answer his question for when she spoke to him, "It's now in the hands of two young girls that we've met up with recently. You see, the three of us were just going to the place where Miguel and the Chaotix are for when we were ambushed by the green pirates. The two of them managed to get away while I stayed behind to hold them off."

"Well, that would explain the rips on that new pretty yellow dress that you've been wearing, Sylphiel," Shadow responded to the young woman while at the same time turning to see her blush with embarrassment before turning to the matter at hand. "But now's not the time for us to getting to that topic! We've got to get to where the Chaotix are right now and get that Chaos Emerald away from this world's sights now!"

"I'm afraid that's easier said than done, Shadow," he heard Miguel saying to him with the same serious tone in his own voice. "I mean, the Chaotix are easy to find since they've absorbed the power of fifty rings each so it shouldn't be too hard to find them. The Chaos Emerald on the other hand is a different story."

"Well, then we'll just have to get to them first before focusing on the emerald," the black hedgehog responded to his human friend while seeing some of the spider-like creatures beginning to ready themselves to pounce on their prey. "We should be able to get to where they are using the Chaos Control since now their bodies are brewing with Chaos Energy. On the count of three, we'll warp to where the Chaotix are using Chaos Control. Are the two of you ready?"

While turning to see his two human friends nodding as a response, the Ultimate Life Form began to count while keeping his eyes on spider creatures that were about to pounce on them, "Okay. One. Two. And...three!"

As soon as he said those words, he along with both Miguel and Sylphiel began to shout out in unison while seeing the monsters pouncing towards their direction, "CHAOS CONTROL!"

With those words shouted out by the three of them, Shadow soon found himself along with his two human friends being engulfed in a brilliance of emerald-colored light before all three of them have found themselves being transported to their destination while at the same time not leaving a trace of their existence to anyone, not even the spider creatures that missed them during their own pouncing assault.

**End of Part 11**


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes to readers:** Sorry for the delay everyone, but I've been busy trying to overcome a weakness of mine that's was one of my greatest strengths: thinking. You see, I've gotten so many ideas within my head that I don't know what to do with the. They just keep coming to my head with a few more to take their place. Well, thanks to the advice that **Lil' Samuu** gave to me, I would be able to get them out of my head in no time. Thanks, **Lil' Samuu** (Sorry that I've got your name wrong). Now I would like to say thank you all for the support that you've given to me. Thanks **Generation-A** for all of the continued support as well as for the great stories that you've put up. Well, on with the fic and I hope to get honest and good reviews. Later!

**Part 12**

As he finally found another means to escape the Cyber world and enter the human world, Bass stared in fasination for when he saw the dimensional rip wide open for him to enter in. As it turns out, this gateway is near the deepest part of Net City that was the closest within the ranges of the Undernet. The viruses that were in a hurry to enter it in order to satisfy their own curiosity were soon frighten away for when they've felt the presence of the Black Shadow nearing them. _ "Well, at least those small insects know when to stay out of my way for when they know that they have no chance to defeat me. Pathetic," _the cloaked Navi thought to himself while scoffing at the cowardice of the viruses just before he refocused his thoughts at the portal that lay before his eyes. _"But it matters not. This gateway before me is the only passage into the human world. Once I arrive, I'll be able to search for that powerful gem that the human and those creatures have in their possession. As soon as that Chaos Emerald is in my hands, my power would be boundless. MegaMan nor his idiot of a NetOp would be able to stand in my way. Without the aid of a Dimensional Area to perform that Cross Fusion technique of theirs, they're nothing but helpless little rats for me to exterminate. Heh! Heh! Heh!" _

With those thoughts done within his mind that caused a menacing grin to his face, Bass began to walk up towards the green rip right between the world that he's in and the human realm. As soon as he was within its range, the Black Shadow was able to look through it and saw where exactly in the human world that the dimensional rip would lead him to. _"This is rather convenient," _he thought to himself as the cloaked Navi kept both of this crimson eyes aimed at what appears to be Dentech City. _"It seems that this gateway leads to the beach near the city where MegaMan's NetOp lives. This is just like taking candy from a baby, which is fine by me." _

Finished with his thoughts, Bass continued to advance towards the energy rip in order to gain entrance to what appears to be his way into the human world. However, just as his hand was about to reach the dimensional phenomenon, a powerful bolt of golden electrical energy began to suddenly surround his entire body. While pulling his hand away from the gateway to his own freedom, the cloaked Navi felt his arm surging with pain as his attempt to go into the human world proved to be a difficult task.

_"What the hell is this? Why can't I enter?" _The Black Shadow thought to himself as his anger began to well up inside of him while also causing his own great power to erupt from within his body as a dark purple aura surrounded his body. _"Those pathetic viruses were able to enter through those holes into the human world without any problems! But something is pushing me away from this portal, as if something or someone isn't giving me the chance to get in! When I find out who or what is the cause for this, I'll see to it that they won't be able to stand in my way! I swear it! I'll get through this gateway if it's the last thing I do!"_

As soon as he finished with those thoughts, Bass's entire body began to erupt with powerful bursts of wild dark energy. While feeling his own rage rising to levels unknown, a dark silhouette of purple dark energy began to take a monsterous shape of a creature that looked huge and demonic. As soon as it fully appeared, the beast that erupted from within the cloaked Navi's body began to raise its huge fists and let out a mighty roar that shook the cyber buildings within range to shake violently with powerful negative energy erupting all around the area. If any Navi would've been unlucky enough to be within Net City's abandoned area for when it happened, he or she would've been deleted in an instant for as the eruption of dark energy that the huge entity caused was powerful enough to destroy or delete anything within it's range. It would've destroy about a city block's worth of Net City if Bass hadn't calmed his temper in the last moment.

As he became his usual calm and composed self again, the Black Shadow began to survey his surroundings. So far, all that he could see was that the great damage that his own power and anger caused was so severe that it would've caused the entire system that was keeping Net City running to crash. _"I guess that the great powers of Nebula Grey is greater that I had anticipated for when I've absorbed its data back in the Undernet." _Bass thought to himself as he turned his full attention back towards the dimensional gateway only to see the rip five times bigger than it was before. _"What in the world! This dimensional rip is much more bigger than it once was for when I first saw it. Perhaps the eruption of my own increased power has something to do with it?" _

While pondering upon the thought, the cloaked Navi extended his hand towards the dimensional hole and saw that his hand passed through it with no electrical field that would prevent it from doing so. _"This is strange. The force that was once holding me back from the human world has suddenly ceased to be within this gate way," _Bass thought to himself as he pulled his hand away from within the rip that it was in while at the same time feeling a bit confused about what happened as well as looking at his hand that appeared to be unharmed. _"It seems that my sudden outburst of my own rage and power caused this portal to increase its size in order to accommodate to my own. Well, I guess that it no longer matters seeing that I'm now able to enter within the human world with nothing to stand in my way. Those humans had better prepare for their own worst nightmare because this dream is about to become a reality. Heh! Heh! Heh!"_

With those thoughts done within his own mind, the Black Shadow began to walk up towards the wormhole that has grown in front of him and made his way into the human world with a evil smile all over his face.

As he watched the devastation taking place within the safety of the shadows on the roof tops of the city he's in now, Shade the Red Shadow began to feel a powerful and yet unidentfied presence beginning to cause his whole body to shake a bit, but only by a bit. He was blinded a bit by most of the sun's rays while trying to find the source, but thanks to his creator's own genetic tampering, his weakness to the light's harmful rays were now removed so that he could move about freely.

_"Hmmm. This is certainly unexpected," _the vampire creature thought to himself while at the same time scanning his eyes throughout his surroundings as well as the roofs in order to see what caused the powerful force that he felt. _"This isn't the work of Lord Parasite's own servants. That would only mean one thing: someone or something has entered within this realm through other means. I'd better let Lord Parasite know of this sudden developement." _

After finishing with his thoughts, Shade began to close both of his eyes and concentrated his mind on contacting his master from a world beyond the one that he's in now. As soon as he was sure that he'd felt his master's presence, the human-like aristocratic began to transmit his own thoughts into words just as he mentally spoke, _"Lord Parasite, this is Shade. I have some news that I think that you might be interested to know about." _

As he waited calmly for his master's response, Shade was soon rewarded for his patience for when he heard the voice of Nightmare Parasite speaking to him with its own powerful mental abilities that were able to cross and break the boundaries of time and space, _"What is it, my servant? I'm waiting to hear what is it that you have for me to listen to. Does this have to do with Dilgear? Don't tell me that he's beginning to revolt against me." _

_"Not at all, Lord Parasite," _the vampire responded to his master's own mental words through his own just as he continued to feel the powerful presence that's still around the air. _"Dilgear and his men are still carrying out your orders like you told him to do. But it just so happens that someone or something has managed to get to this realm through a dimensional hole. Do you suppose that it has something to do with that large amount of Chaos Energy that I've felt a moment ago?"_

_"Hmmm. That might be the case, Shade. It just so happens that some of the creatures that have entered the realm you're in through the means of using a portal made by the piece of the Chaos Emerald," _he heard Nightmare Parasite speaking to him mentally while at the same time continuing to survey the damage that he saw the werewolf and his ghostly army as well as the strange creatures that came from another realm caused from the streets below. _"But so far, I was able to watch both the creature Shadow and his humanoid girlfriend of his enter that realm by some unknown means. Even I wasn't able to detect their arrival to this realm. _

_"However, this disturbance that you've just mentioned is different on how they've arrived. I want you to get a trace of the source of this great disturbance and take it out at once. We don't want anything that might decide to show up and interfere with our plans, now do we? So get over there and destroy whatever caused the phenomenon. Understood?" _

_"Understood, Lord Parasite," _Shade mentally answered to his master with an obedient tone within his mind's voice while at the same time looking over the smoking streets that were filled with strange creatures that are of different types and variety attacking in both confusion and rage. _"What of these beasts that are appearing in the streets of this city, master? Should I deal with them after taking care of the interloper?" _

_"No, don't waste your energy on them,"_ he heard the voice of his creator mentally saying to him with a serious and calm tone within its mind's voice. _"Just allow Dilgear and his forces to take care of the task at hand. You are to focus only on the mission given to you. Be sure that creature sees what's coming to it for when you find it. Also, avoid any confrontation with either of your genetic parents unless they provoke you to. Is that clear?" _

While nodding his head as a response to his master's mental words, Shade once again heard Nightmare Parasite telepathic voice saying to him while at the same time hearing his creator chuckling, _"Good. Oh, and Shade have fun with your new playmate. Make sure that the creature truly knows what it means to feel ultimate fear for when it faces you." _

Those were the last words that the vampire heard from his master just before hearing nothing but the explosions and sirens coming from below. Shade let out a small grin for when he thought about using his own abilities for the first time on a creature that dared to cross his path. _"But first, I have to find the creature in order to use them," _were the vampire's last thoughts before he began to vanish out of sight in a haze of what appears to be white but non-detectable mist all over the skies and searched for his target.

While still trying to figure out what in the world was going on within Dentech City, Dingo along with the magician girl named Mana were in hot pursuit of a worried and hot-headed Dex in what appears to be a ravaged part of the City. "Dingo, what in the world is causing Dex to freak out like that for when he heard Maylu was in trouble?" he heard TomahawkMan saying to him with a rather confused tone in his voice from within the P.E.T. "I mean, I've noticed that both he and GutsMan has got a crush on both her and Roll for some time. But I didn't think that they would be crazy or stupid enough to go through the streets like this!"

True to his word, the Indian boy could see clearly what his Navi meant. The part of the city that they were all in was in pretty bad shape and most of the sidewalk that they were walking on were either cracked or damaged from whatever the green pirates were doing. "Uh, could anyone please tell me what is going on?" the young boy heard the voice of the young female saying out loud while at the same time turning to see her pretty face a bit confused by not only the sight before them but at the Personal Terminal that the was holding. "I mean, from what I could see, that device of yours seemed to be talking as if it there was a person in it. And what does he mean for when that large friend of yours if running like a worried mother? Who is this Maylu girl anyway?"

"It's really a long story, Mana," Chisao said to the young woman with a bit of a annoyed sigh while the three of them continued their hot pursuit of the large kid. "The short version of it is that my big brother has had a crush on the girl that he'd just mentioned ever since he, Maylu, and Lan were toddlers. Of course, he gets kinda jealous for when Lan gets glomped by her once in a while."

"We could talk all about that later after we catch up to him first, guys," Dingo said to both Mana and Chisao while at the same time keeping his sights set towards Dex while feeling his lungs almost deprived of oxygen as he ran after his large friend. "We have to get Dex to calm down first! Man, for a big guy, he sure does run fast!"

Just as he was about to hear TomahawkMan make a comment about what he just said, the Indian boy saw the large kid quickly stopping in his tracks as if something stopping him from making the rest of his way. Just as he reached Dex, Dingo began to ask his large friend while at the same time trying to catch his breath in order to put oxygen back into his lungs, "Man, Dex! For some...one as big as...you, you sure...do run fast! Why did...you stop?"

Before he could hear a response, the Indian boy heard the voice of Dex's little brother saying to him with a rather annoyed and yet childish tone of voice just as he saw both Chisao and Mana beginning to catch up, "Dex! Why did you always have to freak out like that for whenever you hear that Maylu's in trouble! You know that you get me all worried for when ran away from the restaurant like that! Now why did you stop, big brother?"

Just as he faced his big friend's direction in order to get his answer, Dingo saw that Dex had a frighten expression on his face. When he was about to hear the large kid say something to his young sibling for when he heard the voice of the strange blonde girl answering to him with a rather nervous tone in her voice just as she pointed what appears to be hear magic staff towards Dex's direction, "I think that the reason that your brother has stop is probably because of those things!"

As he was confused about what the mysterious female magician was talking about, the hatchet wielding boy turned to the direction where her staff/wand was pointing at. For when his eyes landed on Dex, Dingo soon saw that the large kid wasn't what Mana was pointing at. What he was looking at was a huge horde of viruses that appeared right in front of them and stared at them with a rather hungry and annoyed expressions on each of their faces. A horde of Bunny3s seemed to take full notice of their presence for when they've arrived. However, the electric type viruses weren't the only ones that they've saw. What they've also saw was a huge pack of Spikey and Spikey2 viruses beginning to appear out of the with their own fangs baring towards their prey. Not only that but a numerous amounts of Boomers and Mushies appeared from on top of the buildings that they were on and glared at them angrily.

The young boy saw the army of viruses advanced towards them as if they were woken up from a very good dream. At that moment, he didn't know what to do. Just as he was about to say anything to his group of friends that he has a solution to their current problem, Dingo saw what appears to be a ball of pinkish dark energy zooming passed him and launched itself directly towards the group of Spikey and Spikey2 viruses just before exploding on impact. As soon as the smoke cleared, all the Indian boy saw left was nothing but smoke and pixels left behind by the viruses' own deletion.

"What in the...!" was all that Dingo could saying before he saw Mana beginning to fly right past him by some unknown means and charged herself towards the huge army of viruses with her wand in hand.

Just as he was about to make a protest about the girl's sudden charge towards the viruses while flying at full speed, the young boy heard her saying to him along with his two friends, "Everyone get out of here! I'm going try to hold off these things while you three escape and make for cover!"

"But these viruses are too much for you to take care of, Miss Mana," he heard the voice of Chisao saying to the young magician while at the same time feeling a bit frightened about what was going to happen. "I mean, sure that you are a powerful magician girl from another world, but there's no way that you would be able to take all of them on without help!"

"If only there was a Dimensional Area around this place, then I would be able to Cross Fuse with my Navi in order to help you out," Dingo said out loud while at the same time pulling out the Synchro Chip out of his pocket and fiddled with it within his hands. "If these viruses were in the cyber world, then TomahawkMan would be able to take out these things would one blow!"

"Unfortunately, thanks to that powerful magnetic interference that's all around this area, I can't seem to establish a link towards SciLab," he heard his Navi saying to him with a rather serious tone while at the same time having his entire image appearing on a holographic screen. "It would take a miracle if Lan or Chaud was able to..."

As if to answer the Indian-like Navi's prayers, the young boy suddenly saw the entire area around the entire section of the city becoming discolored and out of order of sorts like a television set. After a moment of trying to figure out what was going on, Dingo heard the voice of Dex shouting out loud towards his direction, "Hey, it looks like a Dimensional Area is forming around here! That must mean that either Lan or Chaud must've called in SciLab!"

"This looks like it means only one thing, TomahawkMan!" the young boy said to his Indian type Navi while at the same time positioning his Synchro Chip towards the mouth of his own Personal Terminal's chip slot. "Let's get ready to take care of those viruses with the power of team work through the process of Cross Fusion!"

With those words said through his mouth, Dingo began to hear the voice of Mana saying to him with a rather confused tone while turning to see her putting up what appears to be a powerful pink crystal dome of energy around where he and the others have been standing, "Would you care to explain to me on why this entire area's color has become discolored? And just what are you planning to do in order to help me against those creatures?"

In response to the young woman's question, Dingo began to say out loud while at the same time positioning the device towards the mouth of his P.E.T.'s chip slot, "Okay, TomahawkMan, let's show Miss Mana how we'll be able to help her in order take care of these viruses that enter this world without a proper introduction! Synchro Chip in and download! **_Cross Fusion!_**"

With those last two words spoken in unison by both the Indian boy and his Navi, a bright light began erupt from his P.E.T. that surrounded his entire body in its embrace. After what appears to be a moment of being engulfed by the heavenly light's presence, Dingo soon saw the luminous curtain of white fading from his sight and found the eyes of everyone in the group as well as the viruses eying him as if he were an alien from another planet. While looking at himself to see the result of the Cross-Fusion, the young boy saw that he himself was transformed. The body armor that he was wearing was almost identical to the one that his cyber friend wore. Only that the structure of the suit that he was wearing was modified a bit to not only to look different from his Navi's but to fit with his entire body's size as well. Not only that but he also carried a hatchet that was almost identical to the one used by TomahawkMan while in a NetBattle.

As soon as he as became aware of the situation at hand, Dingo began to hear the voice of Mana saying to him while at the same time noticing her being a bit surprised at what she just saw, "H-How did you do that! First you were a normal boy that was holding a strange weapon and device and now you're fitted with the outfit of a warrior! Just what in Ra's name is going on!"

Just before he could have the chance to answer the young woman's question, the Indian boy heard the voice of Dex saying to the mysterious young girl while at the same time turning to see the large kid putting his arms around his little brother, "Dingo just Cross-Fused with his Navi so that he would be able to fight those strange viruses, Mana! But now is not the time for us to talk about this sort of thing! Especially with al of those viruses over there looking at us like some three course meal! I just hope that the two of you would be enough to take on those things without Lan or Chaud's help!"

"That's for sure, big bro," he heard the voice of Chisao saying to his brother while at the same time sounding a bit frighten for when a small group of Bunnies began to advance towards their direction with a predatory look on each of their faces. "Those things are creeping me out ever since I've saw those things appear in this world the first time!"

"Well, we could talk about that sort of thing later!" Dingo shouted out to them while at the same time beginning to leap behind both Dex and his little brother and ran towards the group of viruses that were threatenting to attack them. "Let's take care of those bothersome things that are near you guys first! Right now, they're just like a swarm of flys that need to be squashed! Tomahawk Swing!"

With those words said and done, the young Cross-Fused boy began to swing his hatchet and began to slice through the group of electrical element while at the same time seeing them becoming a show of pixels, deleting them instantly. As soon as he faced his two friends to see if they're alright, Dingo saw the expression on Chisao becoming more excited and bright rather than frighten for when he looked at his direction and said, "Whoa! Now that was neat! I can't wait for when I get a Net Navi of my own! That way, I would be able to kick butt with those viruses!"

"Can we maybe talk about this later, Chisao!" he said to the little child while at the same time beginning to rush himself towards a group of Mushies that appeared right out of nowhere and began to launch a large surge of water towards their direction. "For now, we have a huge problem in our hands right now and that huge tidal wave is going to wipe us all out if we don't do something quick!"

"Perhaps I could be of some help with our current predictament that those creatures are causing," he heard the voice of Mana shouting out while at the same time seeing the young magician girl beginning to conjure up a huge amount of energy while at the being able to somehow continue to maintain the crystal dome around them. "I don't know how long that I would be able to keep up my defensive spell for long, but I think that I would be able to get rid of some of the forces that these strange creatures are putting up against us. I just hope that it would be able help."

"At this point, I'm willing to try anything that would get rid of those things," he heard the voice of his friend Dex saying to her while at the same time seeing the huge kid staring at what appears to be another horde of what appears to be Kilbo all over the walls of the buildings. "From the way that those spiders are lookin' at us, I'd say that they're pretty hungry!"

"Well, then allow me to wash away those creatures from us with the use of their own attack thanks to those jelly friends of theirs," Dingo heard the voice of Mana saying to them while at the same time holding her magic staff up towards the air while at the same time facing the huge wave of water that the horde of Jellys have unleashed upon them. "Here it goes nothing!"

With those words said by the young woman, the Cross-Fused Netbattler began to charge himself towards the spider-like viruses with great speed just as his entire body became surrounded by a fiery red aura while saying, "While you do that, I'll provide cover fire for you by taking out these guys! Tomahawk Rolling!"

Before he knew it, Dingo found himself rolling in a huge ball of red fire towards the horde of Kilbos that landed from the buildings and mindlessly charged towards their direction. When his fiery red body collided with the huge group of spider-like viruses, the cyber creatures quickly became engulfed in the red flames that came from the flames of the attack. For when he finally stopped rolling like a huge bowling ball and stood on his own two feet, Dingo turned to see that Mana was able to redirect the huge wave of water towards the pack of Spikys that didn't look too thrilled with being washed away while being instantly deleted.

"Well, it seems that both Mana and I got things under control," he said outloud while at the same time seeing both Dex and Chisao giving the two of them blank but amazed expression on each of their faces. "What, you two? It's not like the two of you haven't seen the way both me and TomahawkMan fight together for when in..."

"Oy! Dingo! I don't think that they're looking at you," he heard the voice of his Navi saying to him with a rather annoyed and miffed tone while at the same time becoming confused at what his cyber friend was talking about. "Just look at where their eyes are looking at and you'll see what I mean."

While trying to figure out what his Navi was trying to say to him, Dingo saw both the faces of his two friends looking at Mana's direction with amazed and impressed expressions. That was when he began to sweatdrop at the scene that he saw in front of his eyes while trying to figure out what they ever saw on her. "Uh, could you two stop drooling over Mana and concentrate back on the matter at hand!" the Cross-Fused boy said to both Dex and Chisao while at the same time turning to see another horde of viruses arrive at the scene and advancing towards their direction. "Besides, we have other problems that we need to deal right now and I'm not too sure if both me and Mana are able to take care of them all without having to destroy the city in order to do so!"

"For once, I happen to agree with you on that one, Dingo!" he heard the voice of TomahawkMan speaking within his helmet while at the same time trying to hold onto the sides of his head in order to keep it from ringing. "Right now, I think that you should try to get out of there before things around there start to get worse!"

"I think that would be easier said than done, TomahawkMan!" Dingo said to his Navi while at the same time swinging his hatchet towards a pick ax wielding blue Mettaur2 virus suddenly jumping towards their direction and saw it being instantly deleted. "I don't think that both me and Mana would be able take on these things by ourselves without backup! I wish there was something that would be able to put a stop to these viruses!"

As if to answer his prayers, the Cross-Fused boy began to see some of the approaching viruses becoming a bit frighten about what they were seeing. While being confused about what caused the cyber creatures to become scared with fear, Dingo heard the voice of Mana saying to them while at the same time feeling as confused at the scene as he was, "Looks like that wish that you've made has just come true. But what I would like to know is who or what caused those things to become afraid all of a sudden?"

As she heard those words come out of the boy named Dingo's mouth, Mana turned towards the direction that the strange and unusual creatures were looking at. What she saw was a powerful pillar of crimson light being erupted from the direction that the creatures were staring at. Before she could have the chance to figure out what was causing the enormous amounts of crimson light to erupt like it did, the female soon found herself looking back towards the armor-clad boy with a bit of confusion written all over her face.

"Young man, just how was it that you were able to don armor like the one that you're wearing right now?" Mana asked the young man that she was staring at with a bit of confusion coming from his face. "A few moments ago, I thought that you were nothing but an ordinary young boy who wielded a huge hatchet that's used for chopping wood. Now, you could do things that no ordinary human would be capable of doing like rolling into a huge ball of red fire. Is this what your friends mean by that process that they called Cross Fus...?"

Before she could have the chance to finish the rest of her sentence, the young female magician turned her full attention back towards the group of strange creatures for when she heard their frighten cries begining to become more scared than they were before. Just as she was trying to figure out what was going to happen, Mana saw something that she didn't really quite expect. What she saw was that the animal creatures beginning to run for their own lives as if they were running from a horrible creature. Before she could have the chance to ask the three young human boys about what was going on, the female magician heard the voice of the boy Dingo shouting out loud to large cowardly horde while at the same time wielding his huge bladed weapon at them, "Hey, you little creeps! Get back here! Just what in the world is going on with those viruses that...?"

Before she could hear him finishing the rest of his sentence, the female magician began to see the strange creatures become more faint, almost as if they were ghosts. Moments later, what she saw the entire horde of the weird monsters starting to disappear from sight as if they were nothing but a bad dream. As she was becoming more confused than ever with what was happening before her eyes, Mana turned to Dingo's direction to see that he was just as confused as she was.

"Okay, now this is something weird," she heard the armored-clad boy saying out loud while at the same time seeing the expression on his face becoming more confused than what she's feeling right now. "Those viruses are starting to fade away from this area as if they were nothing but a mere dream...or just very realistic holograms. Just what in the world is going on around here!"

"You've got me, Dingo, let's just be happy that those viruses are good and gone!" she heard the large boy named Dex saying to his friend while at the same time feeling both nervous and relieved about what just happened. "Another moment with those things and we could've been a huge meal for them to snack on."

"Well, there are things around this city that are starting to become a bit too weird for me to understand here, big bro," she heard the voice of the cute little boy Chisao saying to his older brother while at the same time feeling as confused about the situation as the two other boys just before hearing his young voice speaking towards her. "Miss Mana, just how in the world are you able to do that spell that was able to wash away those viruses as if it were a cool movie effect? That was so total cool! Just..."

Before she could hear the rest of the sentence coming from the young child's mouth, Mana began to turn her full attention back towards the huge pillar of crimson light that she saw still hadn't dissipated one bit. While trying to figure out was going on, the female magician began to hear the voice of the armored boy Dingo saying while at the same time turning her full attention towards his direction, "Chisao I think that we should save those kind of things for later for when we have the time for it. Right now we have other problems. Like what's causing those things to appear in this world without the use of a Dimensional Area!"

"Well, we could figure all that out for once we get back with Lan and the others," she heard the larger kid saying to his friend while at the same time turning to see him facing what appears to be a huge amount of lights approaching them at a great speed. "Besides, if we don't get out of here before the police or news reporters arrive here, we're going to be in world of trouble for when they catch all here in the area asking us questions that I'm not too comfortable with answering!"

"Guts! Guts! GutsMan agrees with Dex! Guts!" Mana heard the voice of someone not too intelligent saying to the Dex while at the moment feeling confused at what she just heard talking to the larger kid. "Dex's parents is already mad enough for when he and Lan sneaked in Yai's house once! Guts! Just how in the world are we going to get out of this mess! Guts!"

"Well perhaps that I would be able to get us out of this little sitaution of ours by casting a spell of mine," she began to say to the three young boys while at the same time looking at the direction to where the huge sound is coming from. "It's been something that I've been working on since my days in Ancient Egypt. It would only allow us to become invisible for only a short time, but it should be enough for all of us to evade the sights of the local authorities. It would only take me a few moments for me to remember the words to incantation of the spell, but it should be enough time for me to get it right and maintain it."

"Wh-Wh-Whoa! Wait a minute! You're saying that you're a magician from Ancient Egypt! That really old place filled with nothing but sand that I've read about in my school!" Mana heard Chisao saying to her with a rather shocked tone within his young voice while still concentrating on the words to the magicial spell that she had been working on since she was back in her mortal state five millennia ago.

Before she could think about the words that would answer the young child's words, the female magician heard the voice of his friend Dingo saying with a rather impatient tone within his voice, "We'll talk about all that later for once we meet up with Lan and the others. As soon as we all do, I want to hear what they have to say about those friends, the Chaotix, as well as those green pirate ghosts that you've mentioned before, Dex. There's something that you've been keeping from me and I want to know what it is!"

"Okay! Okay, guys! I'll tell you everything that you need to know for once we get out of here and out of the news crew's sights!" she heard the voice of the huge kid saying while at the same time continuing to concentrate on the final words to the spell that would avert their own presence away from the local authorities of the world that she's in. "Mana, how are you doing with that spell of yours? Are you almost done?"

While almost feeling annoyed with the begging words of Dex, Mana was finally able to get the words of the spell within her thoughts all worked out just before saying to the large kid while trying to maintain a well-mannered tone, "I've just finished going over the words within my mind and I'm starting the incantation now. Every one of you just stay near me and wait until I've finished reciting it. Now get ready to experience something that you humans thought only existenced in fairy tales that you've read about while you were kids."

As he continued to try to subdue the huge legions of the viruses that swarmed all over him like giant killer ants, Lan brought his own Fire Sword down on a couple of KillerEyes that were able to attack him from behind and launch an electrical beam towards his direction. After recovering from the assault and ridding his presence of the pack of electric viruses, the blue-armored boy began to look back in front of himself while at the same time replacing his own flaming weapon for a different one while shouting out, "Okay, Bamboo Sword and Step Cross battlechips in and download!"

As he registered those battlechips within his own body, the flaming weapon that was on Lan's hand was soon replaced by a yellowish green blade and started charging towards the group of viruses at a tremendous speed. When he finally made a stop right in front of the electrical viruses and began to slash his new weapon at the horde in an X pattern formation, slicing through their bodies like butter. As soon as he saw the viruses being instantly deleted in front of his eyes, Lan shouted out loud while giving out a cheerful tone within his voice, "Booo yeah! Now that's what those things get for when they mess with the best!"

**_"Lan, now's not the time for you to get overboard with the battle,"_** he heard the voice of his Navi scolding him through his helmet with a rather brotherly tone. **_"This isn't like the battles that we've have since that time with the Asteroid Navis! I mean, we don't even know about what the cause for this strange phenomenon. But I would bet money that it may have something to do with the Chaos Emerald that we've just saw. You heard what those guys said about it being too powerful to fall into the wrong hands."_**

****"Yeah, like I don't need to be told about that twice already, Mega!" the Cross-Fused boy said to his digital partner with a rather annoyed tone within his voice while at the same time swiping his Bamboo Sword towards another group of shrimp-like viruses. "I mean, the Chaotix along with both Miguel and Sylphiel were pulled from their own worlds to this one because of pieces from that emerald that was somehow broken apart by unknown means. It's no surprise that these viruses appearing out of nowhere is the cause of someone unwittingly using it without knowing that something like this would happen."

**_"Well, for once, I would have to agree with you on that one, Lan,"_** he heard MegaMan saying to him with a thoughtful tone about the what the young boy said to him about the situation at hand as he swipe his green sword towards the large group of Shrimpy virusesm deleting them one by one. **_"But right now, the only thing that we need to be concerning ourselves with is how are we going to get rid of all these viruses that are appearing around here like ants in a picnic." _**

****"Well, whatever we do, we've got to do it without having to reduce this part of the city into rubble in the process," Lan said while at the same time making his free hand transform into what appears to be an electrical device with a built in engine. "ElecReel battlechip in and download!"

With those words shouted out from his mouth, Lan shot what appears to be a ball of electricity towards his opponents while at the same time seeing the viruses disappear in a shower of pixels. After seeing aqua elemental viruses vanishing out of existence, the blue armored boy began to look around the place and began to sigh with relief for when he saw that no other viruses are appearing out to attack him. "(Sighs) Well, it looks as though that's the last of the viruses appearing to this world. I'd say that it's a piece of cake!" Lan said while at the same time sounding confident with what he just did as he continued to look in front of him.

**_"Uh, Lan, I really think that you've just spoken too soon because some more are coming your way right now," _**he heard the voice of his Navi friend saying to him with a worried and panicked tone that caused him to become confused.

Before he could have the chance to ask what the Blue Bomber meant by those words, Lan turned behind himself to see that another large group of viruses coming towards his direction. What he saw was a group of blue Spikey viruses along with a group of the aquatic Swordy3 as well as a couple of their lesser companions the fiery Swordy2 and the original Swordy. Also, most of the groups of viruses also consisted of the common Mettaur as well as the Fishy2 and 3 viruses. Lastly, one of each of the elemental dragon-like viruses, a Lavagon, Bluegon, and Yellowgon, also appeared from within the skies above the city and started to roar at their prey.

"Oh, gimme a brake! As if I don't have enough problems to deal with as it is!" Lan said out loud while at the same time looking at the odds against him while at the same time discarding his two weapons, transforming them back to his blue-gloved hands. "Why is it that whenever I wipe out a few of them, a few more take their place along with re-enforcements to boot? Man, even with the Dimensional Area covering this entire place, I can't risk using some of my most powerful chips without having to blow the city apart along with anyone that might be still in the area in the process!"

**_"Don't lose your cool, Lan. There's always a way for us to get through this," _**he heard the voice of MegaMan saying to him with a calm and reassuring voice while at the same time facing down the virus army. **_"With our luck, maybe someone would come along to the rescue when we least expect it." _**

****"Oh, yeah right! Like something like that's going to happen anytime soon at a time like this!" the blue-armored boy said to his Navi with a sarcastic tone as he kept both of his brown eyes towards the approaching viruses that looked like they were wild animals getting ready to pounce on their own prey. "I mean, just who would be capable of coming here at the right time for when we need help the most! Just who!"

As if to answer his question, Lan began to hear a familiar male voice shouting out loud, "Sonic Boom!"

With those words shouted out, the boy began to see what appears to be a barrage of golden waves of energy appearing right out of nowhere and colliding with most of the group of Spikeys and Swordys, deleting them instancely. Lan was staring at the scene with both a surprised and blank expression on his face for when he looked to see what was the source of his rescue. What he saw was a quick flash of crimson appearing out of nowhere while holding onto what appears to be an arrow-shaped golden blade. The mysterious figure in red then jumped out of the way of the legion of viruses and landed right in front of Lan with little effort. As soon as his eyes reached his savior's face, he soon recognized the familiar face of his friend Chaud now clad in in his own variation of his Navi's suit.

As soon as he recognized his comrade's face and form, Lan spoke to him with a rather irritated tone in his voice, "What took you so long to get here, Chaud! Those things were about to make me into one huge blue buffet along with one bite-sized blue Navi for dessert!"

"Well, geez, you're welcome, Lan," he heard Chaud saying through his mouthguard with a sarcastic tone in his voice while at the same time slashing his weapon once again and fired another golden wave of energy towards the direction of where the huge virus army was while at the same time deleting some of them in the process. "This is what I get for trying to be nice and help you for when you are in a tough situation! Maybe I should've left you to become food for those viruses to munch on!"

"Okay! Okay, Chaud! No need to bite my head off about it!" Lan responded to the dual-haired Net Battler while at the same time feeling more annoyed with what the Vice President just said. "We don't have time to argue about this right now! Let's get rid of these viruses first because it looks like that they're really mad at us and they're hungry!"

"For once, I have agree with you under these circumstances, Lan!" his long-haired companion saying while at the same time raising his own golden weapon towards the three powerful elemental dragons that roared towards their direction. "But for when this is all done, I would like to expect a full explanation from both you and MegaMan about the way that you've ran away like that! I mean, why did you call that green stone that I have a Chaos Emerald anyway?"

"We'll talk about everything that you want to know once we have the chance to talk about it, Chaud. Neo Variable Sword in and download!" the young blue-armored boy said while at the same time making what appears to be a weapon identical to the one that his friend/rival held in his possession. "Now, which ones do you want to start with first?"

"Now's not the time for jokes, Lan!" he heard his companion saying while at the same time keeping his weapon aimed at some of the approaching Mettuar viruses as well as some of the Swordys. "From the looks of things, we're both outnumbered and if we used some of our most powerful chips, then this entire section of the city would be reduced to rubble! Even with our skills alone, the two of us won't be able to do this alone. If only we had some of the other Cross-Fusion members to help us out!"

"If only Maylu and Dingo were in this area with us right now so that the four of us could take on these viruses together and delete them no problem!" Lan added to Chaud's words while still feeling a bit nervous about having to face a huge army of cyber viruses by themselves as he kept his golden weapon aimed at them. "Anybody would do just fine as long as they help us get rid of these viruses!"

As if to answer his own prayers, the young boy soon saw what looked to be a fast moving gash of dark purple appearing going right through most of the Swordy as well as most of the Swordy2 and Fishy2 viruses, deleting in mere seconds before any of the cyber creatures could even move. While trying to understand what was happening, Lan saw what appears to be a large shuriken heading towards the direction of the large red Lavagon. He saw the large red dragon quickly being erased out of existence for when the large projectile collided with its target.

"Just where in the world did that come from?" the young boy shouted out loud while at the same time seeing what appears to be the quick flash of dark purple landing towards their direction and saw a person that he hasn't saw in a long time: Dark Miyabi who's now Cross-Fused with his Navi ShadowMan. "D-D-Dark Miyabi! Just how in did you manage to get here! As a matter of fact, just how did you know that there would be a Dimensional Area would be around here anyway?"

"Ask questions about that later and be glad that he's here, Lan!" he heard Chaud saying with a annoyed tone while at the same time raising his sword towards the huge Bluegon that stared down at its prey with predatory eyes. "Both me and Miyabi would be able to take care of both the Bluegon and the Yellowgon in the sky while you take care of the ground troops. Miyabi, take the yellow one while I deal with the blue!

"I've got it," he heard the voice of the armored ninja saying with a calm tone while at the same time seeing him leap off with great height and speed towards the huge Yellowgon right above the city that roared right towards his direction. He then saw Chaud leaping off towards the Bluegon that did the same as its yellow companion.

"Oh, that's just great! Thanks a lot, guys!" Lan said while at the same time pointing his Neo Variable Sword towards the huge group Mettaurs, Swordy2s, Swordy3s, and Fishy2 that were coming towards his direction. "How am I suppose to take care of all those things by myself while you two get to take care of the two dragon?"

**_"Well, you should be glad that Miyabi was able to come to the rescue at the right time, Lan," _**he heard MegaMan saying to him with a somewhat nervous and exaggerated tone in his voice.**** **_"Unless you want to go face to face with those two dragons that are fighting both Chaud and Miyabi, I'd say that facing those viruses on the ground is the best bet that you have right now." _**

****"Under normal circumstances, I would have to agree with you on that, but now's not one of those times!" Lan said to his Navi with a rather annoyed tone as he used his golden and arrow-shaped weapon to slice through most of the Fishys as well as four of the Swordy2 and 3s that attacked him using their own elemental weapons. "But right now, even with the so-called help, how am I suppose to take care of those things that keep popping up like unwanted roaches. At this rate, it would take an army to take care of those things right now."

"Well, if that's what it would take to get rid to them, then here comes the calvary, homeboy!" a familiar voice said with a rather excited and pump tone while at the same time turning to see who was the cause of it.

As soon as he turned his face to see who was speaking, Lan saw what appears to be a huge figure coming out of nowhere and using a large human fist to punch out a nearby Swordy3 virus that was about to slice its weapon from behind without him noticing. When he was finally able to take a good look at his savior, the young boy began to say with both surprise and shock for when he saw who it was, "Vector! What are you doing here and where are the rest of the guys!"

As both he and Miyabi were fighting with the two remaining elemental dragons at the roofs of the abandoned buildings, Chaud turned his full attention back towards the ground in time to see what had happened to his blue-armored comrade. What he saw with both of his sapphire-colored eyes was something that he did not expect to see. What he saw is a creature that appears to be a huge green crocodile with human-like arms and legs throwing its fist towards an incoming Swordy3 that was about to slash its blade towards Lan's direction. He also noticed that the creature sported a pair of shoes, gloves, along with wearing both a golden chain around its neck, and wore a set of what appears to be headphones on its head. Not only that, but what the young Vice President saw it being accompanied by a group of what appears to be humanoid animal creatures coming towards their direction and began to take on the viruses that were on the ground but he couldn't make out what they really look like at the moment.

But that wasn't all that he thought he saw. At that moment, the dual-haired boy could've sworned that he just saw Maylu in her Cross-Fused form and armor joining them in the fight against the viruses. Just as he was about to head towards the both Lan, Maylu, and the strange creatures, Chaud soon turned his full attention back towards the Bluegon that roared and fired a powerful blast of wind and snow towards his direction. But just before the attack could even reach him, the red-armored NetBattler began to shout out, "LifeAura Battlechip in, download!"

Before the icy attack could have the chance to collide with his body, a purple aura of energy began to surround his entire body and shielded him from the full assault of the blast that would've frozen him into a human ice cube. As soon as the attack ceased along with his defense, Chaud began to shout out loud while at the same time swiping his powerful golden blade towards the dragon-like creature, "Sonic Boom!"

With those words out of his mouth, he slashed his sword three times, thus creating three golden waves of energy charging themselves towards the blue dragon virus. When all three attacks collided with the huge Bluegon, the virus cried out in pain just before becoming a shower of pixels that soon vanished out of existence. _"Well, that takes care of that little problem," _the red-armored Netbattler thought to himself while at the same time turning his full attention back towards the ground where he saw Lan along with the crocodile creature. _"Now to take care of some business with that crocodile thing as well as its companions. Whatever it is, I'm not too sure that I should be able to trust it to leave Lan and Maylu alone. And speaking of which, why is Maylu here anyway and why has she Cross-Fused?" _

_**"Chaud, those creatures that you've just saw with both Lan and Maylu must be the ones that I've read about in the reports," **_he heard the voice of ProtoMan saying to him with a serious tone while also sounding as surprised as his NetOp was. **_"If that's so, then why is it that they're helping us out? Just what in the world are they?"_**

****"I don't know, ProtoMan, but perhaps I should just drop in to say hello and ask them all a couple of questions," Chaud responded to his Navi's words just as he turned towards Miyabi to see that he was fairly dealing with the Yellowgon on his own while seeing him land on one of the rooftops of the city with his two samurai swords in hand. "Miyabi, I'm going to help Lan deal with the viruses that are still on the ground. Think that you could handle that big lizard while I'm gone?"

The only answer that he recieved from the ninja NetOp was a calm and unnerved nod of his head while at the same time aiming both of his swords's blades aimed at the Yellowgon for another attack. He looked downward towards the ground to see if Lan needed some assistance with dealing with the huge army of viruses as well as the green creature that he saw a moment ago. To his surprise, he saw that most of the viruses on the ground were nearly deleted. Some others that he saw were running for their lives as if they were running from an army of monsters. He also saw that neither Lan, Maylu, or the crocodile and its companions were nowhere to be found.

_"This looks as though an army have just plowed right through there," _Chaud thought to himself as he jumped from the roof of the building that he was on and easily landed on the ground while beginning to scan his surroundings to see what had happened. _"But even with Lan's skill, not even he could take out a whole army of those viruses without having to level this entire section of the city. So it must have something to do with those strange creatures that I've saw with both Lan and Maylu a moment ago. Whatever they are, they sure did a number on those viruses that appeared out of nowhere. Now the question is where they went." _

As soon as he finished those thoughts within his mind, the long and dual-haired young man began to look up towards the sky to see Dark Miyabi beginning to decend from the rooftops of the city and landed with his two feet very lightly skillfully like any ninja would. "Well, Miyabi, did you managed to delete that annoying yellow fly that was flying above the skies earlier?" he asked the dark ninja with a serious tone while seeing him put away his two swords back into their sheathes attached on the back of his armor.

Chaud soon received his answered in the form of the ninja NetOp shaking his head as he spoke with an emotionless tone through his mask, "No, I'm afraid that it managed to get away from my sights as it used its lightning bolts as a distraction. But it couldn't have gone too far considering the huge amount of damage I was able to deal to its body. There shouldn't be any further danger of it causing any damage this section of the city."

"We can't take any chances of that thing running around or out of this area so that it could take the time to recover, Miyabi. So it looks like that we'll have to split up from here," the Ace Netbattler said to his partner while at the same time staring at the damage that the area of the city has taken in the battle. "I'll go look for Lan in this area while you go look for that Yellowgon that escaped. From what I saw on the ground, he was being accompanied by some strange creatures that looked to me like they've just come from a petting zoo."

As soon as he said those words from his mouth, Chaud saw the usually serious looking eyes of Dark Miyabi becoming huge and wide with surprise that even amazed the dual-haired Netbattler to take notice. "What is it, Miyabi? It looks as though you know something about those creatures that I've just saw," he responded to his companion with a rather curious and serious tone as he continued to keep his blue eyes on him.

As he saw Miyabi's eye becoming their own size and serious appearance, he heard him saying to him while at the same time maintaining the serious tone within his voice, "It might probably be nothing, Chaud, but I think that those strange creatures that you were speaking of might have brought a companion along. You see, just before I Cross-Fused and ran into you two, I was in pursuit of a creature that was colored in red and black. It was being chased by a group of what appears to be like the green spirits of pirates."

As his bare feet touched the soft sand of the beach beneath him, Bass gazed all around his surroundings to see where exactly that he arrived in. _"It seems that I've arrived in Dentech City's beaches like I thought I would be," _the cloaked Navi thought to himself just as he turned his gaze towards both of his hands and looked at them with both amazement and wonder. _"This is remarkable. Most of the scientists in SciLab weren't able to fully bring a Navi into this realm of theirs without the assistance of a Dimensional Area and a human NetOp. But I was able to enter into this world without the aid of those humans' technology. It seems that the energy within that rip to my own world seems to be the cause to my arrival."_

With those thoughts done within his mind, the Black Shadow resumed his scanning towards his surroundings. It was true that he was in the shores of the beach near Dentech City. But what he also saw were old but yet sturdy looking buildings that looked as though they haven't been moved or even inhabitted for over years. However, that was soon forgotten for when Bass felt a powerful surge of power crawling all over his body.

_"Hmmm, Strange. I could've sworn that I've felt a strong surge of power being emitted from within one of those old human structures," _the Black Shadow thought to himself while feeling a bit curious about what he just felt just now. _"It's not that of that human that I've saw from before nor is it from that Chaos Emerald that I've heard about. Just what or who would've been emitting this much power. Just what in the hell would've caused this incredible surge of great power?"_

As if to answer his thoughts, Bass began to hear the voice of a male human speaking to him with a rather calm and yet heartless tone within his voice, "Heh! So you're the one that's been emitting that great and horrible energy that I've been sensing a moment ago. Well, it seems to me that you're hardly worth the effort of searching for if you're dressed in those tattered rags."

As soon as he heard those words, the cloaked Navi started to focus his now enraged thoughts on what or who would've managed to speak to him in such a defiant tone of voice to him. _"What kind of human would be brave or stupid enough to challenge me like this?" _Bass thought to himself while at the same time continuing to scan the entire abandoned area that he was in right now while feeling angered at the insult that was delivered directly to him. _"Whoever that human must be, he's just asking to get himself killed by being in this area. Heh!" _

"Show yourself at once, insolent human!" the Black Shadow shouted out while at the same time trying not to allow his temper to get the better of him. "If you have the nerve to talk to me like that, then you wouldn't mind showing yourself right in front of my own presence just before you get eliminated."

"Well, I would be more than happy to respond to those words of yours, creature," Bass heard the creature's voice with rather mockingly polite tone just as he continued his search for the intruder. "But I should warn you that I'm not like anything or anyone that you've ever fought with before. Heh! Heh! Heh!"

When he heard those words from his mystery visitor hiding in the shadows, the Black Shadow began to see a powerful crimson aura beginning to erupt from within one of the buildings that he was looking at from the distance. As he tried to figure out what was going on, the Navi saw the aura beginning to subside as if it were nothing but an illusion. While continuing to stare at the weakened crimson light with his usual calm and careful attitude that he developed over the years, he finally was able to hear the sound of careful and calm footsteps beginning to approach to the light that the sunset within the skies of the human world emitted. That was when he soon began to see a human shadow appearing from within the entrance of the doorway of the old building in front of his eyes as he continued to hear the footsteps getting closer. As soon as he began to see the human's own body becoming fully illuminated, Bass was able to see the entire form of the mystery creature that he was looking at right now.

What the Black Shadow saw at the moment was a well-built young human man in his late teens with dark scarlet and long wavy hair that reached his shoulders. The clothing that he wore would suggest that he's come from a very rich and old human family. His brown eyes looked like that they would be enough to pierce the soul of anything that would dare to get in his way. But there was something about the male human that he was staring at that he found strange. Something that wasn't exactly human.

After a moment of staring at the strange human, Bass was finally let out of his hypnotic trance for when he heard his mysterious visitor saying to him with a rather emotionless tone in his voice as he let out a bored yawn, "Well, what in the world are you waiting for, you pathetic creature? Aren't you going to start our battle by delivering the first blow? Or are you too much of a coward to even start, little-finned fish?"

As soon as he heard those words coming from human male's mouth, the cloaked Navi began to become enraged for what he had heard. Without giving a second thought to his actions, Bass began to gather a great amount of yellow energy within his fist as his rage grew along with his own great power within his body. While whipping his torn brown cape away from his now revealed black and golden-armored body, the Black Shadow suddenly began to leap into the air of the human world and dove his body towards the interloper that dared to face him. As he dove at the young human male at a great speed, he began to shout out in an angry tone as he collided his fist with his adversary, "Earthbreaker!"

For when his attack finally collided with its target, what Bass saw next was not the result that he wanted to see. What he saw was that the strange and unusual human that had the nerve and courage to face him grabbing the arm that held the energy to his Earthbreaker. Not only was he able to withstand and cancel the assault, but he saw that the attack didn't create a huge crater or any explosion like it usually did for when it collided with its own target.

As soon as the cloaked Navi began to move away from the strange human, he looked at him with a serious and angry expression on his face while at the same time feeling confused at what just happened. "Wh-Wha...how was it even possible for a human like you to withstand my Earthbreaker?" he said to the brown haired man with both confusion and anger in his voice as he tried to figure out what was happening. "There was no way that any human would be able to withstand the power of my attack without the power of a Net Navi! Just who or what in the hell are you! Answer me!"

As if to answer his question, Bass saw the strange human beginning to jump high up into the air skillfully without much effort or difficulty. Before he could do anything or think about what the human might be doing, the Black Shadow saw the strange male's body plummeting towards the ocean with both of his feet facing downward towards the water's surface. That was when he soon found himself faced with yet again another surprise that the strange male presented to him. What the cloaked Navi saw with both of his crimson eyes was that the human landing on the surface of the ocean without submerging into it like most humans would. It was as if the surface of the water to the human-like creature was like a solid stone floor.

When he took a better look at the human that he was looking at, he saw a couple of what appears to be sharp-looking and long fangs appearing out of the front of his mouth. That was not the only unusual trait that Bass noticed. What he also saw that the nails on his fingers were too long to be like that of a human woman's. He could've sworn that they resemble more like animal claws. Not only that, but the Black Shadow saw a powerful crimson aura being emitted out of the strange humaniod creature's body as if it were like a huge wild fire surrounding his very being.

"Heh! Heh! Heh! Well, if an inferior being like you would like to know so badly then allow me to first introduce myself," he heard the human male saying to him with a rather mocking tone within his well-mannered and calm voice as he bowed like a human gentlemen would. "You may call me Shade. Know that name well for it would be the last thing that you would ever hear, you foolish creature."

As soon as he heard those words, Bass became filled with a great rage and hate that he never felt in his entire life. So much in fact, that he immediately began to charge up a huge amount of dark energy within his own hands and shouted out loud, "Hell's Rolling!"

As soon as he those words shouted out by the strange caped creature, Shade saw it beginning to charge a huge amount of dark negative energy within his own hands. While continuing to observe what was going on, the vampire heard the strange life form beginning to shout out loud, "Hell's Rolling!"

When he heard those words shouted out loud, Shade began to see the unknown creature throwing what appears to be a horde of bladed wheels of dark energy speeding towards his direction. He the dark wheels of projectiles sawing themselves hard against the earth beneath them right before reaching the ocean waters. Before he could allow the rolling dark energy blades to reach him, the vampire creature began to react to the attack by creating a pair of small but sharp and powerful crimson energy blades from within his hands and held them as if they were like regular knives. Then, within one or two seconds to spare, Shade began to twirling himself around at a great speed while at the same time having both of his crimson energy weapons slicing and slashing through the sea air. A second before the bladed disks of dark energy could reach him, the vampire's own energy weapons began to collide and slice through the deadly projectiles of energy, cutting every single one of them in half while dissipating from existence. From the way that he used the crimson weapons to slice the deadly barrage, one would say that he would be an expert of knives of sorts.

After a moment of spinning and splashing his feet on the water beneath his feet, Shade soon stopped his fast movement just in time to see the angry and yet suprised expression of the humanoid creature that attacked him through the spray of water that he made. There was a long and dead silence that enveloped the area that both he and his unknown visitor were in. That was when the vampire decided to break the long silence by speaking to creature with his voice's tone not changing one bit as he twirled the crimson blades within his hands with a skillful degree, "It seems that you have very powerful and destructive techniques of your own, creature. For that, I'm impressed. But they are nothing when compared to mine. As for why I'm able to stand on the ocean's surface like I'm doing now, well let's just say that the buoyancy of the ocean doesn't apply to me or any of my kind. Now, how about telling me the name of the pathetic and inferior creature that I'm about to kill?"

As soon as he said those words, Shade saw the expression of the strange humanoid becoming angrier with each passing minute that passed by. Before he could do anything, the vampire saw the human-like creature beginning to manifest a huge amount of dark energy within both of his own hands. Then he saw it creating what appears to be dark and long energy swords out of his own grasps and began to charge towards his direction. "The name is Bass, you damn creature! And now I'm going to make you regret saying those words with your very life! Dark Arm Blades!" he heard his challenger shouting out while at the same time trying to slice his twin energy blades of energy towards their target.

_"A head on attack with energy blades of darkness? Pathetic," _was all that Shade thought to himself just before he intercepted the attack with his own twin crimson energy knives.

As both he and the black helmeted creature named Bass clashed at one another with their own blades of energy, the vampire saw his opponent beginning to increase the speed of his own assault while continuing slash towards him. While trying to increase the speed of his own blades, Shade began to feel a powerful aura of dark energy being surrounded around the strange human-like creature just as the two of them began to hover in the air. Before he could figure out what was going on, the crimson-haired vampire began to back away from his opponent while seeing the dark energy taking the form of a huge and powerful creature erupting from within his foe's own body.

Just as he saw the strange humanoid emitting the powerful dark aura all around his body, Shade thought to himself while at the same time pointing his two crimson energy weapons at his opponent in order to prepare for the next attack, _"Hmm. This is going to be interesting. This Bass is powerful enough to charge at me at full speed with those energy blades of his while at the same time defining the very laws of gravity without the use of wings. This is going to be a rather interesting fight. Heh!" _

With those thoughts done within his mind, the vampire creature began to once again charge at the one named Bass with both of his crimson energy weapons gripped within his own hands. As soon as he neared the black creature, Shade saw the huge creature that just emerged within Bass's body beginning to slam its enormous fists towards his direction. The humanoid creation of Nightmare Parasite began to move out of the way at a great speed as he saw the huge creature of darkness slamming its huge fist towards the ocean while causing enormous waves of water to separate and break apart in the process. As soon as he was a good distance away from his opponent, Shade heard the manifested dark creature beginning to let out a huge roar that's loud enough for the entire city to hear as well as cause the ground to shake beneath him.

_"This Bass is certainly an impressive specimen," _the vampire thought to himself while at the same time unnerved by both his opponent as well as the huge dark aura creature that he summoned just as he landed on the sea's surface like he did before. _"He was able to summon an enormous creature of great power and darkness while almost catching me off guard. Heh! Well, as amusing as this is, I'm afraid that I must put this little show to an end."_

With those thoughts done within his mind, Shade heard the voice of Bass saying to him while at the same time sounding a bit menacing as well as insane from the growing power that he's emitting and gathering within his body, "Heh! Heh! Heh! Do you see that, demon? What you just saw was the essence of the most powerful creature that once nearly destroyed this world with its great power: Nebula Grey!"

After hearing those words come from the black-armored humanoid's lips, the vampire began to put both of his crimson energy weapons away, causing them to disappear from existance. He then started to emit an even bigger crimson aura than he did before. The expression on Shade's face then turned from a neutral soulless smile to a menacing one as he let his sharp fangs fully reveal themselves. Not only that but he also allowed both of his fully developed wings to sprout out from behind his back and spread them wide with pride for the world to see.

"Ha! And what in the hell is this suppose to mean to me, demon! Are those wings of yours suppose to frighten me!" he heard the voice of his opponent saying to him with his demented tone as he continued to face him and the powerful dark entity that was dubbed Nebula Grey. "Whatever you're planning to do, it won't work! It's time that we put an end to this nonsense once and for all!"

As if to respond to Bass's words, the vampire laugh out a huge and evil laughter that would cause any human that happened to be nearby the area to have shivers on the skins or spines. After a moment of his evil cackle had passed, Shade began to speak to his opponent but using a more menacing tone of voice, "Heh! Heh! Heh! Foolish creature. Do you not know of the powers that I'm about to unleash upon you as well as this Nebula Grey that you speak of? What I'm about to unleash is a small portion of a powerful and destructive force that most humans feared because of how corrupting it was to their kind. It won't be enough to wipe out this city area, but it should be enough to wipe out both you and that huge beast of yours from existence. Heh!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, the crimson aura of red-haired vampire began to grow larger than it did before. Just as he could allow the armored creature named Bass to say anything from within his mouth, Shade began to gather a huge amount of the blood red aura within his hands and once again faced the black and golden-armored humanoid creature. "What the hell are you trying to pull, you winged-demon?" he heard the voice of Bass saying to him while seeing him glaring above his head as he also saw the large manifested entity growled towards his direction like a savage beast. "Whatever power you speak of is nothing but nonsense! Prepare to feel the power of ultimate darkness for when I blast you into oblivion with my strongest attack!"

With those words out of his opponent's mouth, Shade saw him beginning to charge up a huge amount of dark amethyst energy within the palms of his hands. As he saw Bass putting both of his hand closer together, the vampire saw the menacing grin that his strange humanoid was giving to him along with hearing a mighty and savage roar from the huge dark entity. But despite the fact that the energy gathering within his foe's body is strong enough to wipe out a whole city block, Shade was still cool and level-headed about what the situation as he kept his menacing grin on his lips.

"Darkness Overload!" he heard Bass shouting out loud with a tone of both anger and hate for him as he saw the dark energy that was within both of his hands began to burst from within his palms and let out a huge eruption of his power towards his direction.

As soon as he saw his opponent's attack charging itself towards his direction, Shade began to hold out both of this arms towards the dark energy's direction and shouted out with both of his hands aimed towards the assault's direction, "Crimson Nova!"

That was when a huge sphere of blood red energy began to form within the hands of the young vampire's hand and began to fire itself towards its target's direction. As soon as the attack was launched, Shade's evil smile soon grew larger for when he saw his crimson energy ball going right pass Bass's own dark energy attack and exploded for when it finally hit its mark.

**End of Part 12**


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes to Readers: **I'm really sorry that it took me so long to update my story but I've been getting all screwed up with my college schedule as of late. Not to mention the fact that I've been trying my best with making this chapter good for readers like you. I've also tried my best with trying to read as many fics as I could so that I could get more ideas. Not to mention pick out what ideas would be best for the upcoming chapters. Trying to pick out what I could use from my list of ideas. In any case, I hope that all of you would enjoy this chapter that I've made. I know that it wasn't much, but it's the best that I could offer and I hope that you all understand my situation. Not to mention the fact that it's kinda hard for me to put the fic with the upcoming fight with both Air Jay and Shade in it. You can't rush genius. I would like to thank the group **Generation-A** for their continued support as well as those who have given their reviews. Please be honest for when you give me your reviews. I really appreciate it. Enjoy!

**P.S for Ross Heuchan:** The comet that I've just mentioned in **Call of the Dark** wasn't the **Black Comet** with the aliens that called themselves the **Black Arms** and their leader named **Black Doom**. That story took place right after the events of the game named **Shadow the Hedgehog**. It's something completely different. But in order to find out what it is, you'll have to wait and see for yourself. I'm sorry for the late response.

**Part 13**

While trying to understand what was happening to the city that he and his crew were in, Dilgear slashed his rusted looking broad sword towards what appears to be a spider-like creature that was about to take a bite into him. As soon as he sliced the creature, the part humaniod werewolf and part troll saw it vanish out of existence in a shower of what appears to be pieces of the creature's body. Still feeling a bit stunned about what he saw, Dilgear saw the rest of his green spirit army continuing to attack the rest of the strange creatures that seemingly came from out of nowhere without any further explanation.

Just before he could think about what he should do next, the resurrected werewolf soon found himself being ambushed by strange beasts that looked like bunnies of some sort. But for when he took a closer look at the strange creatures, he could've sworn that he saw some of them emitting a powerful and yet stable jolt of electricity from within their metallic-like ears just before blasting a jolt of it towards his direction. If not for his enhanced speed and his body's new genetic structure and endurance, Dilgear wouldn't have been able to avoid the electric attack that was shot at him. As soon as he far from his attackers range, the werewolf began to turn his full attention back towards the group of the rabbit-like creatures that were threatening to attack him once again and gave them a threatening glare.

"I do not know what you creatures are and why you're here, but there's one mistake that you've made," Dilgear said to the strange group of creatures as he aimed his broad sword towards his direction while at the same time glaring at them. "What you've just did is that you've chosen to interfere with me and my men are on a mission trying to secure a very powerful item that Lord Parasite wants. Now it's time that I've sent you all back to the hell that you've come from using the powers that my savior endowed me with."

As soon as he said those words, the werewolf began to gather a large amount of dark blue energy within his hand while his other occupied his sword. While seeing the viruses continuing to advance towards his direction, Dilgear let out a small menacing grin on his face for what he was about to do. "Heh! Heh! Heh! Heh! It seems to me that you creatures are incapable of using reason to settle this matter, so it would be easy for me to destroy you without having any second thoughts about your destruction! Take this!"

After he finished talking to the creatures, the werewolf began to throw the dark blue orb of energy towards their direction at a great speed. As soon as the speedy dark sapphire ball of energy collided with its target, Dilgear saw the resulting explosion instantly vanquishing all of the creatures within the blast while leaving no trace of their existence. While feeling proud about what he just did, the werewolf gave out a huge grin as his fangs were shown in the front of his mouth.

"Heh! Heh! Heh! I guess that those creatures aren't as tough as I thought that they would be," Dilgear thought to himself just as he held onto his broad sword tightly while scanning the area to see if there are any more of the strange creatures nearby. _"But what I'm amazed is that I was able to blow those things away with just an energy blast_ _like they were nothing to me. It was as if doing that task was like second nature to me. I guess that those modifications that Parasite made to my body are starting to kick in. I wonder what other..." _

Just before he could have the chance to finish the rest of his thoughts, he heard the voice of one of the green pirate leaders, Captain Blood, coming towards his direction from out of an alley way. From what he could see, Dilgear saw that the nasty-looking pirate leader looked as though he were chewed on by a dog. If a dog could chew on a being made of nothing but spiritual energy, then it would've managed to chew and take away a part of the ghost leader's arm in the process. Not to mention the fact that his leg looked in bad shape as was with his arm.

While walking over to the green spirit named Blood, the werewolf began to speak to him with a stern and yet shocked tone in his voice, "Blood, what in hell's name happened to you? You looked as though something has been chewing you like a chew toy! What in the world could've done this to you?"

Before he could hear a response coming from the pirate leader's mouth, Dilgear heard the voices of remaining troops coming from all around the place in order to help their fallen leader from the ground that he'd landed on. "Arr! Captain! What happened to you! What kind of beast from hell has done this to you?"

While seeing some of the green spirit going over to their wounded leader in order to aid him, the werewolf was suddenly startled for when he saw the entire area around his being started to become all discolored as if it were becoming part of a painting. The buildings, the moving machines, and even the roads themselves have started to become something that came from an oil masterpiece. That was when he suddenly heard the voice of his savior saying to him while at the same time hear his master sounding a bit urgent and demanding tone, **_"Dilgear! It seems that things around where you and your men placed in are beginning to grow a bit out of control. Have the remainder of your green soldiers regroup and retreat back to your hiding place. I'm also having Shade to withdraw back to my realm before the local authorities arrive at the scene. At this moment, he's in a battle with a bothersome fly. We'll come up with another strategy to get the emerald away from that human boy and his friends without alerting or frightening the people of that world...at least not yet. Now get your men on their feet and get out of there! That's an order!"_**

****While nodding his head as a response to his master's mental thoughts, Dilgear began to shout out to the group of green pirates and shouted out to his men, "Alright you scums of the seas, it's time that we gather what's left of the men and regroup! Lord Parasite has ordered us to go back into the hideout and to await for further instructions! Get Blood up to his feet and follow me back to the lair before the authorities or any other military backup could arrive! Let's move!"

As soon as he finished, the werewolf could see that the eyes of the remainer of the green pirate spirits, save for Captain Blood, were looking at him with frightened and shocked expressions on them. Something that that he wasn't really concerned about while remembering the fact that he once controlled a horde of demons and men for his former master, Rezo the Red Priest. As soon as he began to walk, a huge hole of endless void and darkness began to materialize right in front of Dilgear just before he himself walked right into it and vanished out of sight. The frightened pirates soon regained their composure and then, with two of them supporting Blood in order to get him to move, followed the werewolf/troll to the portal and vanished out of sight just as he did while not leaving a trace of their existence.

As he and his large group of friends have finished with dealing with another group of the strange and unusual computer viruses, Vector took at look at Lan right in front of his eyes. What he saw was that the young boy for whom he and his friends just met yesterday is now fitted with a type of armor that looked similar to his Net Navi's. A blue skin tight suit with a helmet that matched that of MegaMan's own headwear. Of course, after a quick second inspection, the crocodile could see that the suit was made to specifically fit the boy's body as well as his own style.

"Vector!" he heard Lan saying to him with a rather shocked and surprised tone of voice just as he stared at him with both of his eyes. "What are you doing here and where are the rest of the guys!"

The question that he heard the boy asking him was soon answered for when both Espio and Mighty came out of nowhere just in time to fend off some of the other strange virus creatures that looked almost identical to jellyfish. Not only did they come along, but Charmy came in flying quickly towards another group of viruses that looked identical to killer wasps or hornets as he saw his young friend dodging their electrical attacks. Just before he could hear the boy give him another question about what was going on, Vector saw Maylu jumping out from out of nowhere and began shooting pink arrows towards green viruses that looked identical to spiders. Though it was still a big shock for the Mobian and his friends to see the girl transform in front of their very eyes. Yai, who had been there for when it happened right before she was carried off by who appears to be one of her hand maids, was unshocked for when she saw her friend do the Cross Fusion with her pink Navi. Well, that and the fact that she told them that she'd spoken to Maylu about it once and even got the chance to see her and Lan in action during their incident with a powerful being from outer space named Duo.

From what they all saw, she looked almost like her digital friend Roll, except for a few slight changes. For one thing, the hard and long metallic-like hair is a dark shade of pink rather than blonde. The attire that she wore is almost like a long pink dress with its skirt extending down towards her knees with the icon of her Navi embedded on the center of her chest. Not only that, but reddish pink gems seemed to place themselves on both of her elbows as well as both of her knees. With other small details aside, the girl almost looked identical her Navi within that suit of hers.

"Maylu! What is she doing here along with you guys!" Lan shouted out to the green crocodile in a shocked and startled tone of voice while at the same time doing his best to hold off a huge creature's attack that was about to slam its huge hammer towards the green Mobian's direction. "As a matter of fact, where are both Yai, Miguel, and Sylphiel? Weren't the three of them suppose to be with you guys! Last I heard, you all were suppose to be sight seeing."

"We'll tell you the long version of the story later on, little blue man," Vector responded to the little human boys words question with a serious tone in his voice while at the same time pushing his large opponent away from his direction and causing it to collide with the nearest wall of a building before turning his attention back towards Lan's direction. "The short version of it is that we wanted to have a little fun in this city and these things happened to show up at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Don't forget that Miguel had to go off in order to save Sylphiel because she was attacked by those green ghost pirates, Vector," Espio said to his older friend while at the same time appearing out of nowhere from his stealth ability and attacked a group of bunny-like virus creatures with a beam of power Chaos Energy. "Yai and Maylu had to take the Chaos Emerald far away from them just before she faced all of them by herself. Oh, and the little rich girl is safely out of harm's reach by one of her little concerned female servants just after Maylu preformed that little..."

"Wha-what? Then we've got to go and help them!" the Chaotix heard Lan saying through the mask over his mouth while at the same time interrupting the purple chameleon's words sounding shocked and worried about what he just heard. "There's no way that Miguel could...!"

Just before both Espio and Vector could give him the chance to dash off, Mighty took his free time from handling a group of viruses to holding Lan by the arm while saying to him, "Whoa! Calm down, little boy blue! In case that you've forgotten, Miguel was able to take out an entire army of them with that Ra-tilt spell of his with one blast last night! I'm sure that both he and Sylphiel would be able to make it out on their own alright. Right now, we have other things to worry about!"

"Yeah! Like trying to take out those strange creatures away from me without blowing up the entire place in the process!" the three members, including Lan, heard the voice of Charmy saying from a distant while at the same time seeing their little friend flying away from what appears to be a horde of cloud-like and bee-like creatures going after him as if he took away their most favorite toy. "Can any of you guys give me a hand with these things? Help meeeee!"

While seeing their little bee friend going out towards the distance of the sky, Vector began to shouting out to Charmy while at the same time turning his full attention towards Maylu whom he saw using her antennae to attack what appears to be a huge pack of mushrooms trying to pounce on her, "Charms! Don't worry, little buddy, help is on the way! Maylu, think that you could finish taking care of those mushroom things so that you could help us with a little somethin'! We've got to give the Charms man some backup because a horde of those flying viruses are gaining on his tail and fast!"

As soon as the green crocodile's words reached her ears, the Chaotix saw the pink clad girl jumping towards their direction while at the same time evading some of the spores that the mushroom-like creatures threw towards her direction. While seeing her land in front of them, the three Mobians along with their new young human friend heard Maylu saying to them while turning towards their direction, "That won't be a problem for me guys! Here we go! Geyser Battlechip in and download!"

When they've all heard those words shouted out from the young girl's mouth, the three members of the Chaotix as well as Lan made a jump for it for when they saw a huge geyser of water erupting from the cemented ground. As soon as they've found a safe place to perch on as well as a view of the result, the three Mobians were surprised to see the huge horde of virus creatures being wiped away by the colossal waves of water which soon ended in their deletion. When they saw that the close was clear for them for a short moment, the three Mobians and Lan landed right back on the ground in order to see the extent of the damage. So far, all that the huge Tsumani that Maylu caused was to wash away all of the unwanted junk debris along with the creatures. Vector was the first to speak his mind about what he just saw.

"Whew! Now that was one killer tidal wave, girlfriend!" the green crocodile said while at the same time still feeling shocked about what he and his friends just saw. "If this is how mad you get for whenever you're ticked, then remind me to stay on your good side!"

"As much as I would like to agree with you on that, we have to talk about this later, Vec," Mighty said to his friend while at the same time sounding worried. "Charmy is still being chased by those flying virus things that look like puffy little clouds and killer bees! We've got to help him right away before they get to him!"

"Well, then let's get going before either the police, anymore of those viruses, or anyone else start to notice our presence," Espio said to the group of friends while at the same time appearing right out of thin air like a magicial illusion. "I mean, I'm starting to feel really low on the power that those Power Rings gave us you guys. I don't know just how long are these new powers of ours would last but let's try to make the most of it."

"Power Rings? What in the world are those?" both Lan and Maylu asked the three Mobians in unison with curious and shocked tones within their voices just before the Chaotix ran like the wind towards the direction where they saw Charmy flying towards.

"Miguel and Sylphiel would tell you guys all about that later for when we ever get out of this mess," Vector shouted out in response to the two young Navi-suited kids just as he along with both Mighty and Espio right behind his tail continued to dash away from the area and went on with their pursuit of the little bee. "Right now, the Charms man needs all of the help that he could get with those things on his butt and who knows when those powers of his will run out! So let's get on the move!"

As soon as he said those words through his huge mouth, the leader of the Chaotix soon came to an sudden halt for when he finally saw Charmy within his sights. But what surprised him and his two other friends is for when they saw something that they didn't expect. What the three Mobians saw in front of their eyes was their little friend Charmy being saved by the black hedgehog named Shadow that seemingly appeared flying right out of nowhere at the last second. As soon as they've all saw the black hedgehog disappearing from their sights in the sky, a huge ball of fire charged from the ground near their position appeared right out of nowhere and collided with the huge horde of viruses that were soon erased from existence from within the fiery explosion. When the three members of the Chaotix saw the self-proclaimed Ultimate Life Form landing right in front of their feet with Charmy in his arms, they all heard the voices of both Lan and Maylu giving out a huge gasp of surprise as a sign that they've were finally able to catch up to them.

"G-G-Guys, just who in the world is this freaky black-spiked porcupine with the red streaks on them?" they heard the young blue clad boy asking them with a sort of frighten tone just as they've turned to see him pointing what appears to be an blue arm cannon at the black hedgehog along with the reddish pink-haired girl who they saw arming her color matching crossbow. "Is that thing a friend of yours or is he a villain from your world?"

Just before either of them could have the chance to answer Lan's question and to keep him and his young female companion from attacking, the three Mobians heard the voice of Miguel appearing out of nowhere while responding to the boy's question, "Lan! Maylu! Don't shoot! Shadow's a friend of ours! He's not as bad as he looks! Trust me on this one!"

As soon as they've heard the voice of their older human friend's voice, Vector was the first to turn his head towards the direction where he heard the voice from and saw the full visible form of the young male just before saying, "Yo! Miguel! It's about time that you've joined the party! What took you and your girlfriend so long to get here anyway and how come Shadow's here?"

As if to respond to the green crocodile's question, they heard the three Chaotix heard the voice of Sylphiel saying to them with her usual gentle tone just as both she and Miguel appeared right out of the entrance of a nearby dark alleyway, "The three of us used the power of the Chaos Control in order to warp to where you are. Of course, we had to get out of the way in order to avoid that powerful tidal wave right after arriving."

When those words out from the shrine maiden's mouth, the Mobians saw both Lan and Maylu disarming their own weapons and saw them transforming back into regular looking hands just before turning towards their direction and give them apologenic expressions on their faces. The young pink clad girl was the first to speak her mind for when she spoke with a rather embarrassed tone, "I'm so sorry about that, Miss Sylphiel. But I had to use it in order to wipe those viruses out."

"Nah, that's okay, Maylu. Stuff like that happens to us all the time. We're used to this sort of thing," they've all heard Miguel responding to the young girl with a friendly tone right before he was interrupted by loud and annoy ramblings of sorts. As it turns out for when they all have turned towards Shadow's direction, everyone saw him being annoyed by the unintelligent and ununderstandable rantings of Charmy, praising the black hedgehog for the rescue he just made a moment ago. "Uh, Shadow, is Charmy doing okay right now?" the Mobians heard their human friend asking the Ultimate Life Form with a bit of confusion in his voice.

"From the way that he won't stop bugging me with those questions of his, I'd say that he's doing a okay right now, Miguel. Depending on who's point of view," they heard Shadow responding to Miguel's question with his usually serious tone while at the same time noticing him feeling a bit annoyed with the little bee that still flying around his head, shooting a barrage of quickly spoken questions that no one understood. "Could someone please get this little fly away from me before I'm tempted to do something about it one way or the other?"

"Alright, Shadow! No need to get all violent. We've got more than enough problems as it is," Vector said to the black hedgehog while at the same time grabbing the little Mobian away from the Ultimate Life Form in order to keep him from getting hurt and annoying the Ultimate Life Form.

"Hey Vec! Lemme go! Lemme go! Lemme go!" Charmy yelled out hyper actively while at the same time trying to trying to free himself from the crocodile's grip. "I'm not done speaking to Shadow yet! Lemme go! Lemme go!"

"From the looks of things here, I'd say that Charmy is still his normal self, guys," the green Mobian said to everyone while feeling embrassed about the scene that was taking place as he tried to get his young friend calm and under control. "Now, is someone going to help me with this little guy or am I have to knock him over the head with my fist in order to get him to sleep?"

Just before anyone within the group could answer his question, they all saw Maylu going towards Vector and Charmy's direction and she began to give the little bee a quick kiss on the cheek while at the same time causing him to cease his rabid and hyperactive action. The blush that appeared on his face told everyone within the group that he was both embarrassed and shy about what he just received. The Chaotix along with everyone else began to give off blank stares on each of their faces for what they've just saw right before they heard Miguel beginning to speak.

"Ooookay, now that was something that would calm the little fella down without resorting to physical violence," Miguel said to everyone while at the same time feeling confused and surprised about what he just saw before focusing his mind onto a different topic. "Now, would anyone care to explain what just happened and where in the world isYai? I thought that she was with Maylu just before all of us separated?"

"Yeah, come to think about it, I didn't see Miss Yai at all for when we've warped here," he heard Sylphiel saying while at the same time hearing her feeling both confused and concerned about the little rich girl. "I hope that she's alright."

"Oh. Well, just before you two love birds arrived with the black dude, a young girl in a maid's outfit just came out of nowhere and took her away while thinking that the four of us must be monsters from another world," he heard Vector answer while seeing him put a calm and blushing Charmy down on the ground and kicking a nearby empty used soda can on the damaged street floor. "Hopefully, Yai was able to make it out of this huge energy rainbow dome that Maylu called a Dimensional Area."

"Dimensional Area? Is that what this phenomenon is called?" the young teen heard the voice of Shadow asking as he turned to see the black hedgehog looking all across the area that's still carried its discolored tone of color all over the place. "If that's so, then just what in the world were those things that have been appearing out of nowhere?"

Before he could he have the chance to answer the Ultimate Life Form's question, Miguel heard the voice of Lan saying to the black hedgehog with a frighten tone still present, "What you saw was a herd of computer viruses that came from the Cyber World. Of course, the ones you just saw were as real and destructive as the ones in the Cyber World."

As soon as his eyes reached the young boy, the teen saw that both Lan and Maylu were still a bit frighten about seeing the black hedgehog that's in front of their young eyes. He sighed exhaustly knowing that the two didn't know all about the Ultimate Life Form's true story and looking at him for what he is on the inside. _"With those red streaks all over his black body, who could blame them for being afraid?" _Miguel thought for as he continued to observe the scene. _"Because of the way he looks, Shadow has to go through many years of being all isolated and alone. Speaking of which..." _

"Hey Shadow, isn't Mana going to worry about you if she sees you like this?" the teen blurted out to the Ultimate Life Form with a rather mischevous tone within his voice while causing his black Mobian friend to blush with embarrassment which also earned him a glare from the black Mobian.

Miguel looked around to see that his words caused everyone in the group to give out expressions of confusion on each of their faces as well as curiosity. He also saw the expressions on both of Lan and Maylu's faces turning from frightened to just plain blank and confused. That was when he heard Vector broke the silence by saying to him, "Okay, Miguel, would you mind tellin' me just who this Mana person is? And what's this about Shadow havin' a girlfriend?"

Just before he could have the chance to respond to the green croc about anything else that might change the subject he just spoke out, he heard a familiar young girl's voice calling out of nowhere as he heard her saying, "Shadow Darling, there you are! I've been searching for you all around the place!"

As soon as he heard those words, Miguel knew instantly who it was. _"Mana! Just how in the hell did she managed to get into this world?" _Miguel thought to himself while at the same time feeling shocked and surprised about who he just heard. _"For that matter, how did she know that Shadow would be here of all places? Just how..." _

Before he could have the chance to finish the rest of his thoughts, the human teen saw the black hedgehog falling towards the ground as if something has just tackled him but saw nothing but thin air. That was when he soon heard the voice of what appears to be Dex shouting from out of nowhere his voice echoed throughout the area in a worried tone, "Maylu! There you are! We've been looking for you guys everywhere! Are you alright!"

While being confused about what he just heard, Miguel heard another voice of a kid saying with a sort of cute tone within his voice, "Big bro! Be careful not to trip over your feet like you did a few moments ago! Don't forget that the four of us are still invisible thanks to Miss Mana's spell."

As soon as he heard those words, the teen began to put some of the pieces together one by one just as he heard the voice of another young man's voice appearing from out of nowhere as he said, "Chisao's right about that Dex! I mean, I'm still in my Cross-Fusion mode with TomahawkMan and I couldn't see what was in front of me while walking while both of my feet are still invisible!"

Miguel then heard the spooked voice of Charmy saying while turning to see the bee shaking in fear, "Ahh! I bet that it's those green pirate ghosts that are imitate the voices of Dex as well as a couple of kids that we don't know!"

When he turned towards the young bee's direction, the teen saw that he was once again starting to become hyperactive but in a frighten way. Miguel also saw the small Mobian being held in place by both Mighty and Espio who were trying their best to calm their little friend down. Before he could have the chance to even speak to him, the teen heard Sylphiel's voice beginning to speak up just as he saw her walking towards the three Mobians in order to help, "Please calm down, Charmy! It's not those green creatures that I've encountered along with both Maylu and Yai. In fact, the magic that I'm sensing right now isn't really evil. In fact, it feels rather gentle compared to most dangerous magic spells that I've encountered."

As he heard those words come from the shrine maiden's mouth, Miguel turned his full attention back towards Shadow and saw a feminine figure appearing right next to him on the cemented ground like a special movie effect. Who he saw wrapping her arms around the Ultimate Life Form's neck and nuzzling him like a huge stuffed toy was none other than the female magician named Mana. He was both confused and shocked to see the blonde spellcaster appear out of nowhere and started to hug the stuffing out of Shadow as if he were a cute and oversized teddy bear to here. Just before he could have the chance to say anything, Miguel heard Vector speaking with a rather flabbergasted and confused tone in his voice, "Oookay. Would someone please tell me about what just happened in front of us? Shadow having a pretty girlfriend? Now that is something that you won't ever see everyday not to mention beyond belief."

"Well, seeing a group of talking animal-like aliens that appeared to be from another world in front of my very eyes is more than enough for me to freak out," he heard the voice of a child saying with a nervous and frightful tone within his young voice. "Just where in the world did these things come from anyway?"

"Uh, well, you see, it's sort of a long and interesting story," that was all the teen could say right before Lan's voice cut him off. "But its really rather complicated and now's not the time to start explaining it."

"Okay, now this is one of the most weirdest things than I've ever seen in my whole entire life!" he heard Lan speaking with a rather confused expression all over his face as he turned to see the young boy's face held a rather envious about what he saw. "I mean, a cute girl like that falling for a creepy black hedgehog with red streaks is just plain weird. Not to mention that it's making me feeling jealous."

As soon as he heard those words come out of his mouth, Miguel then saw what appears to be the yellow and long antennae colliding themselves with the back of the blue clad boy's own helmet with great force. He along with everyone in the group are looking at the scene with both blank and shocked expressions on each of their faces for when they saw that Maylu was the one that gave him the smack on his head. Everyone but Shadow, who he just saw casting his glare towards both Lan and Vector that made the Ultimate Life Form much more frightening thanks to the red streaks that are all across his eyes as well as his entire body. Before he could have the chance to intervene, he heard the voice of an unfamiliar voice of a young boy saying to them while at the same time feeling a bit impatient and annoyed, "Hey! Can we perhaps get out of here before the police and the news crew and police get here!"

"Dingo's right everyone," he heard the voice of Dex saying while at the same time turning to see the fat kid appearing out of thin air as if it were done by a magicial illusion along with a cute looking child tugging on his leg. "I don't want to get into trouble with my parents again for if they ever saw both me and Chisao on TV in the middle of all of this!"

With those words said by the new comer, Miguel turned to see that the person who was speaking earlier was a boy wearing what appears to be armor designed to look like that of an ancient Indian American tribe that existed long ago. Before he could have the chance to say anything on the matter, the teen heard the voice of Shadow saying to him while at the same time seeing the black hedgehog still being smothered by Mana's own embrace while trying to loosen himself from it, "I think that we ought to do what that boy told us to do and get out of here, Miguel. But I think that it would be best that both you and Sylphiel should navigate while using the Chaos Control. It seems to me that the two of you would know where to warp to in this world better than I would."

"I guess that there is no point in arguing with him there, Miguel. We've got to be up and outta here before the cops get here!" he heard the voice of Vector saying to him while at the same time seeing the entire Dimensional Area starting to disappear from high above the sky.

After seeing the buildings returning to normal after the full disappearance of the Dimensional Area, the teen saw turned his attention towards Lan, Maylu, and the one boy that he heard Dex named Dingo being enveloped in a bright blue light. A few moments of being blinded by the bright bluish light's radiance, Miguel soon saw the three kids back into their original forms right before performing the Cross-Fusion. As he took a closer look at him, the teen saw that he was a young boy with what appears to painted designs right under his eyes on his upper cheek. He also appeared to be wearing a huge but fitting hoody sweater while also appearing to be holding a huge hatchet within his hand.

As soon as he turned his full attention towards Sylphiel's direction to see her blushing with embarrassment. He soon realized that she was blushing because of the fact that most of her new sun dress has been ruined by her recent encounter with the green pirate ghosts. But he soon pushed that thought aside and said to everyone within the group, "Everybody, grab onto each other's hands and hold on tight! Shadow, Sylphiel, and I are going to try to warp out of here before the authorities arrive! Now just give us a minute to see where we should go to!"

Right before he could concentrate his mind on the task at hand, Miguel felt the familiar gentle grip of the shrine maiden's hand holding onto his own. He blushed at the thought of holding the young woman's hand within his own. But it was soon forgotten for when he heard the voice of the little boy named Chisao saying with a rather confused and innocent sounding tone, "Hey, what's going on? Just what in the world is this Chaos Control that all of you are talking about?"

"Well, have you ever known what it's like to teleport from one place to another, kid?" he heard Espio responding to the young child's voice with a rather calm and yet amused tone as he turned to see the cute looking boy shaking his head as a response. "Well, you're about to experience it first hand and it's better than any roller coaster ride, believe me."

Just as he was about to refocus his mind on the task at hand, Miguel started to hear the voice of Sylphiel saying to him with a rather flustered tone within her voice, "Um, Miguel, how are we going to warp to any place without the power of a Chaos Emerald to guide us. From what I could see from her battle with those strange creatures just as we warped here, Maylu didn't have the one that I've been given to both her and Yai."

"I'm afraid that Miss Sylphiel is telling you the truth about that, Miguel," he heard the voice of the reddish pink haired girl saying to him with a rather flustered tone while at the same time turning to see her in a new white dress with a yellow overcoat. "You see, when I've Cross-Fused with Roll, I've given the bag that Sylphiel had to Yai. But while the Chaotix and I were battling it out with the viruses, she was suddenly caught by one of her butlers and took her away from the scene as fast as they could. Well, maids actually."

"Maids my tail, Maylu! It looked to be a whole army of them!" he heard Vector adding to to Maylu's words with a exaggerated tone in his voice while breaking the human teen's concentration for the moment. "By the way that they ran towards her and took her away, they thought that we were the bad guys! Sheesh! The nerve of some people!"

"(Sighs) Well, it can't be helped at the time, Vec," Miguel finally spoke up while at the same time trying not to sound as annoyed as he felt about the scene. "I mean, you really can't blame them for not knowing that you're good guys from another planet. In any case, both me and Sylphiel should be able to track down the emerald's energy. Then we could all warp to where the Chaos Emerald is. If Yai's still holding the emerald, we should be able to get to where she is right now. Now, for the last time, is everybody ready?"

After hearing the entire group responding that they would like to go, Miguel resumed his mental search for the energy traces of the near-completed Chaos Emerald. "Did you find anything, Miguel?" he heard the shrine maiden saying to him while at the same time maintaining his concentration. "I can't seem to sense a trace of its enormous energy anywhere."

"I'm still searching, Sylphiel. Please don't bother me while I'm still scanning for any traces of its energy," was all that the teen from another world said to his female companion while still keeping his eyes closed. "It's a bit difficult for me to find it, so it's going to take me a bit more time for me to find the Chaos Emerald's energy. For all I know... Wait! I've just found it!"

As he said those words, Miguel felt a powerful vibration within his body erupting with powerful bursts of energy. Along with the sensation, the teen was able to make out a mental projection within his mind of the little blonde girl holding the bag containing the near-completed Chaos Emerald within it. "Everybody grab onto his or her partner and try to hold onto us tight 'cause this ride doesn't have any seat belts! Sylphiel, are you ready?"

While turning to see the if everyone in the group nodding their approval, the teen began to concentrate as hard as he could for when he once again felt Sylphiel's hand clutching itself onto his own very tightly. As he did his best to surpress the red blush on his face, Miguel soon concentrated on gather enough power within his body to use the Chaos Control as well as both the shrine maiden and the black hedgehog. When he felt each of their own individual bodies's Chaos Energy finally built up to the point where it was enough to warp everyone within the group to where they needed to go.

"Sylphiel! Shadow! Are the two of you ready?" he shouted while turning his full attention towards his two friends while at the same time hearing some sirens coming from the distance.

After seeing some nods coming from both the dark-haired woman and the black and red hedgehog's heads, the teen began to shout along with his two companions, "Chaos Control!"

With those words shouted out by the three of them, the teen soon felt himself being lifted off of the ground and saw that he, along with the group, were being carried into a huge tunnel of emerald green light. Speeding winds have sped through his face and hair as he along with his companions. He also hoped that wherever place that they end up that the people in the area would be friendly towards them. _"The last thing that we would need are panicked young women ready to jump and attack us,"_ he thought to himself just before he and his friends reached their destination.

As she did her best to maintain the power of the Chaos Control along with both Miguel and Shadow, Sylphiel traveled along with the whole group following them through the tunnel of green light. Somehow, she was able to continue to keep her grip onto Miguel's hand while also trying to surpress a blush all over her face. She also heard the screams of both fright and excitement coming from the rest of the group for as they continued to travel through the tunnel of bright green light. After what seems to be like a few moments traveling through the dimensional passage, the shrine maiden soon felt herself along with everyone else falling over to solid ground.

As soon as she felt herself colliding against Miguel's body, Sylphiel felt Shadow's body, as well as the others, weighing down on her while also keeping her from moving. While trying to get the extra weight off of her, the shrine maiden heard the shrieks of what sounds to be a group of young women coming from all directions.

"Guys! Just how in the world did all of you managed to get over here anyway!" she heard the familiar voice of Yai shouting towards their direction while also noticing that she was as shocked as the other women.

As she struggled to get herself off of the huge pile of her friends's bodies that she was under in, the shrine maiden heard the voice of Vector saying while hearing him struggling to get on his own feet, "Man! Do all of your need to go on some serious diets! Just how much do all of you weigh anyway!"

"Hey, we've happened to eat very good diets thank you very much, Vector!" she heard Lan saying to the crocodile's voice with an annoyed tone while at the same time hearing the young boy struggling to get the great weight of the group out off of him as much as she does. "I happen to eat a huge and healthy meal!"

"And believe us, Lan's not lying for when it comes to that concept!" she heard the voice of the mechanical entity named MegaMan shouting out loud while at the same time using a rather smart aleck tone despite his situation. "I mean, I've seen him eating a whole buffet's worth of food and still have enough room for dessert."

"Ugh! You know, that sort of info isn't helping with getting us off of each other like this, MegaMan!" she heard the voice of Dex saying to the blue Net Navi's words as she felt some of the weight on her being relieved off of her own body.

"Uhh! You're one to talk, Dex!" she heard the struggling voice of the young boy named Dingo saying to his huge friend while at the same time trying to get out of the pile that they're in. "I mean, besides the fact that you make it, I've seen you managed to eat a whole pot full of curry right before you go for dessert! I swear that you almost eat as much as Lan does!"

"Can all of you just stop complaining and tell me on how you were able to appear from thin air like you did! You've all totally freaked me and my maid out for when you all did that!" she heard the voice of the little girl Yai shouting out loud as Sylphiel began to lift herself off of Miguel just as she felt the huge weight on her back no longer burdening her.

As she lifted herself off of her male companion's body, the shrine maiden took a good look at her surroundings. From what she could tell, Sylphiel saw that she was in a huge compartment of a large ship or huge machine that she and the others are in. From what she could see, the shrine maiden could've sworn that she was on an advanced vessel of sorts. With all of the machinery and numerous other devices that caught her eye, that was all the young woman could come up with at the moment. But what really caught her attention the most is that it seems that the huge vessel that she and her friends are in are currently in the hands of a huge group of young women.

_"Maids would be a more accurate description," _Sylphiel thought to herself as she looked at the huge group of young women dressed in their maid uniforms while at the same time seeing the surprised and terrified looks on each of their faces. _"From the expressions on their faces, I shouldn't be surprised that they're frightened by the way that we made our entrance." _

Right after finishing her thoughts, the shrine maiden then heard Miguel speaking as she turned towards his direction to see him rubbing the sore spot on his back while trying to relieve himself of some of the pain, "Ow! Oh man, does it feels so good to have that weight off of my back! I mean, having heavy text books on my back are one thing that I could handle, but having all of you dog piling on my back is something that I can't handle! All of you together must weight like a ton!"

"Can we cast all of the wise cracks aside for the moment and figure out where we are?" she heard the voice of Shadow saying to everyone as she saw him emerging from the dog pile that the group had formed from their landing. "From what I could see, we must be in some sort of space ship. But not like anything that I've ever seen"

Before she could have the chance to answer, Sylphiel heard the voice of young woman named Mana saying to the black hedgehog while turning to see the magician rubbing onto her sore rear, "Ow! Well, it couldn't have been any different from the way you were able to warp from your world to mine, Shadow. I should say that your landings traveling alone or with one person is a lot better than when you're traveling with an entire group."

"Can we just find out just where in the world are we, guys?" she heard the voice of Mighty saying while at the same time turning to see the armadillo rubbing onto his somewhat sore shell and looking at their new surroundings. "Uh, is it just me or did all of us just stumble into a convention of some kind for females?"

"Well, judging from what I could see, I'd say that we're in one of Yai's private air ships, Mighty," she heard Maylu responding to the Mobian's question while turning her full attention towards the crew of frighten maids all around where they are. "She usually has one of these in order to travel to any place in the world in just a short time than most air liners. Trust me, this sort of thing is so surprising once you get used to it."

"Let's discuss all that later and try to get ourselves out of this situation that we're in without causing a panic, guys," the shrine maiden heard Espio saying to them while keeping her focus towards the young women that seemed to be in charge with maintaining the vessel's functions. "From what I could see around here, I'd say that we're nothing but unexpected guests to these young ladies here."

"Of course all of you are with the way that you've made your entrance!" she heard the young girl saying to them while turning to see her face still a bit shocked about what she just saw. "Not to mention the fact that you've brought along a creepy black porcupine with red streaks all over his body that's frightening my maids!"

Sylphiel heard Shadow giving out a quiet sigh of annoyance that told her that he was definitely not liking the population that he was getting from either Yai or the maids. Right before she could have the chance to say anything about the situation that they're in, the shrine maiden suddenly felt some turbolance beneath her feet. "Yo! What gives with this plane, Yai!" she heard the voice of Vector asking the rich young girl while at the same time feeling the ground beneath her feet continuing to shake violently. "Just who is flyin' this plane anyway!"

"Kiyruuin Sakurako!" she heard from Yai screaming to the top of her lungs while at the same time trying to maintain the balance of her feet and body.

"Looks to me that we're in for a long and uncomfortable flight!" she heard Miguel saying just before falling over the ground and hitting her head hard on the solid floor right before falling into unconsciousness.

As he laid on the hard concreted ground of the ocean harbor, Bass groggly opened both of his eyes in order to see what had happened. He also felt incredible surges of pain coming up all around his body as he tried his best to get to his feet. Not only that, but he could've sworn that he felt his left arm being disconnected from his body as if it were severed. As he turned to look at it, the Black Shadow saw that his left limb was cut severly but not entirely severed from his black suited body. Data was linking out of the wound as if like water from a fountain. He also noticed several other wounds that swarmed the rest of his body. But none of them are worse than the one that he had received on his left arm. His cloak was tattered even more than it was before and most of it looked like it was burned off.

After remembering about his strange human-like opponent, Bass continued to try to get himself to his feet despite having nearly lost one of his arms. When he finally got himself on both of his feet, the independent Navi started to look in front of him and saw his crimson-haired visitor standing right in front of him. What surprised the Black Shadow about what he saw was that one named Shade didn't show a single sign of fatigue or ruin on his body nor clothing. He even saw the huge bat-like wings on his back still raised above his head without a single burned mark on them. The menacing grin that he saw on the strange human's face remained intact without showing the slightest sign of faltering.

As he saw his mysterious opponent folding his huge bat-like wings back into the proper position on his spine, Bass began to stutter out to him while trying to regain some of the bravado that he lost but failing to do so, "Wh-Wha-What i-i-in the h-h-h-hell are you? Y-Y-You're n-not human!"

_"What in the hell is happening to me?" _the Black Shadow thought to himself as he noticed that he was shaking in what feels like fear crawling all over his body. _"I shouldn't be trembling to the likes of this...thing!" _

While trying to calm his black clad body from trembling, he suddenly heard the voice of Shade saying to him in a calm voice while not letting the menacing smile leave his face as he turned to face him, "Heh! Heh! Heh! You weren't paying attention to what I've been saying right before I've nearly severed your arm, were you? Well, seeing as you would not live long enough to be in this world, I suppose that telling you one last time wouldn't hurt. As I've told you, I'm a being that most humans fear because of my thirst for live blood. Feared because of how my kind spent most of their immortal lives hiding in the shadows of the night while we hunted for our prey. You should be lucky that you are not human or otherwise I'd drain you of your own blood in an instant. The name that the humans called us by are 'vampires.'"

The words that he heard from the human-like creature's lips caused Bass's entire body to quiver uncontrollably with fear. Something that the black-clad Navi haven't experience before since the beginning of his very existence. He had heard about such mythological human-like beings that once roamed the planet feasting on human blood through a visit to one site while roaming around cyber space. Right before he could have the chance to say anything about what he just heard, the Black Shadow saw his visitor slowly walking towards his direction while at the same time creating another energy blade of scarlet light from within his hands. However, the crimson blade that he saw Shade holding was longer than the weapons that he was using to battle him earlier.

"Now that you know what I am, I'm afraid that I can't allow you to live, Bass," he heard the vampire said to him as he saw him continuing to advance towards his direction. "If you're wondering why I'm able to withstand the rays of the sun, then I'm afraid to say that you're never going to get the answer to that question. I just can't take the chance of you revealing my identity to one of my "parents" as those two and their friends roam across this world for the last piece of the Chaos Emerald. Heh! Heh! Heh!"

As soon as he heard those words coming from the creature's mouth, Bass did his best to try to at least get away from his assailant by flying away. Not only that, but he also tried his best to understand on how this mystery creature knew of the existence of the Chaos Emerald that the dark Navi heard from the unknown human. However, right before he could have the chance to make his escape, the black clad Navi soon found the humaniod creature quickly going over towards his direction and was delivered a powerful and swift kick to the stomach. The pain that he'd felt from the attack was almost similiar to the sensation that he'd once felt for when he fought against the alien Navi known as Slur. As he tried his best to once again get to his feet while enduring the pain, the Black Shadow's own crimson eyes met the presence of the crimson energy blade in front of him. His gaze then turned towards the red haired vampire's menacing face that pierce through his own bravado that shattered along with his own pride.

Right as soon as he saw the mysterious vampire beginning to aim the tip of his crimson energy blade towards his direction, the cloaked Navi closed his both of his eyes and waited for his life to end. But after a moment of waiting for the blade to pierce through his body, he opened both of his eyes and saw something unexpected. What Bass saw was Shade ceasing his energy blade's assault on towards his scarred chest and giving off a blank and emotionless expression on his entire face. To the Black Shadow, it seems that the very fabric of time itself has stopped just to pause this very event that's about to happen. After what he felt like almost an eternity had passed, the independent Navi then turned his eyes's attention back towards the red energy blade that the vampire was planning to use to excute him with. What he saw was the crimson weapon's sharp tip beginning to withdraw from its appointed target and vanish from sight. The black Navi became confused with the action as he saw the creature turning his attention away from him and started to walk away towards a shadowy alley as if it were nothing more than a regular day.

"W-W-Wait! Where are you going! Aren't you going to finish me off?" Bass asked with a sort of uncertain tone of voice as he saw his assailant pausing for a moment in order to listen to what he have to say while at the same time becoming furious. "You've had your chance to finish me a moment ago! Why in the hell did you hold back? Answer me!"

There was a moment of silence between the two of them as he heard Shade saying to him with his calm tone returning within his voice, "Well, as much as I would like to excute you and claim your head a prize for my master, but I have other arrangements. Today just happens to be your lucky day, Bass. But you should feel honored to have fought with me and lived to tell about it. I must say that you really did give me, _"A run for my money,"_ as the humans say. Heh! And to think that I was able to inflict that much damage to you without having to use all of my power. I wasn't even using half of it in order to defeat you."

As soon as those words hit his mind, the pride struck Black Shadow felt as though he were nothing but a insect. He couldn't believe that all of the power that he'd just unleashed on the vampire were nothing but mere insect bites to him. All of the power that the black Navi had just put into his attacks were just insignificant pinches to the being that was in front of his eyes.

But what struck Bass the most were the next words that were said to him by Shade, "However, those last attacks that you threw at me did caught me by surprise for when we both fought. I must say that I'm impressed that you've managed to live to still stand up let alone pose a threat against me. If I were to allow you to live and leave you to your business, would you grow even stronger?"

The once cloaked Navi didn't know how to respond to the question that the human vampire said to him. Not only that, but he was still amazed that his opponent would allow him to live instead of just finishing him off for when he had the chance to. "M-M-Maybe," was all that Bass could say in response while trying to regain the composure that he once lost. "Given the time that I would need to heal."

"Well then, I should be on my way," he heard Shade saying to him just as he started to once again walk towards the shadows of the alley and became engulfed by their embrace. "The master would be wondering on how I faired against a pathetic creature such as yourself. But if you really wanted to recover your strength in a hurry, then I would suggest that you take out that large yellow dragon right above your head. I'm sure that it would be enough to suit your needs. Until we meet again, my lesser adversary. I look forward to our next tussle."

With those last words, the Black Shadow looked up towards the sky and saw what appears to be an injured Yellowgon flying above him. From the looks of the yellow virus creature, the black Navi would've guess that it had a run in with the Net Savior Lan while being Cross-Fused with his rival, MegaMan. _"But its rather odd that the a virus just flies above my head at the most convenient time of needs," _Bass thought to himself as he tried his best in order to keep himself on his feet. _"Did that vampire somehow knew that the virus was flying towards this direction right before he was planning to excute me? If so, then why bother helping me recover from my injuries? Is he really that interested in seeing how strong that I would become if I increase my strength? Well, I guess that we'll soon find out. I'll need to hide out and take my time to recover from my injuries. Then when I'm strong enough to walk about, I would be able to continue on with my search." _

With those thoughts done within his mind, the black Navi began to jump from the ground as best as his tattered and beaten body would allow him. Before he knew it, Bass was raising himself towards the skies above the harbor and charged himself towards the huge and injured yellow dragon virus with a dark energy black appearing within his hands.

As it watched Shade disappearing from sight within the harbor through one of the viewing bubbles, Nightmare Parasite just stood still and stared at the image that once showed the great battle between the cyber being known as Bass and its vampire creation Shade. _"Very interesting. Shade has just showed the most impressive display of control and power that I've ever witnessed," _the powerful liquid creature thought to itself as it watched the vampire disappearing into the dark shadows of the beach harbor buildings. _"Having him feed upon both Kanzel and Mazenda a while back has certainly increased his abilities greatly. _

_"Not only that but he's also proven that he could become quite ruthless whenever he wants to. It's a shame that I have to call him back to this realm for more important duties. It would be rather interesting to see him go up against both of his genetic parents in battle. But I'm afraid that now is not the time for that encounter. I can't take any chances of him actually losing while he just barely got a hold of his great powers and abilities. Let's see if he's made it." _

As soon as it felt the presence of its creation within its realm, Nightmare Parasite heard the voice of an arrogant young man saying to him with a rather annoyed tone in his voice, "Yo! Jelly Mold! Just where is that arrogant vampire son of a bitch! I'm bored and there isn't anything to do around here!"

That was when the powerful creature soon recognized the voice belonging to one of the two human creations of Professor Diol; Air Jay. The Chaos Clone turned its full attention away from the bubble screens and saw the long and raven haired young man approaching towards it. From what it could see on his face, he could tell that the human male was a bit annoyed and bored. But for what Air Jay was annoyed and bored for, it couldn't figure it out.

"What is it that you want, Air Jay?" Nightmare Parasite asked the black haired human with a calm tone in its hissing sounding voice. "I'm not in the mood for one of your little temper tantrums. Just what is it that has you riled up about this time?"

"Hey, I just want to know where that vampire pretty boy is so that I could show him what it means to truly be a bad guy!" the long haired young human shouted while at the same time raising his hands in a pose. "No one's better at being more of a bad boy than me and...!"

"Oh, just shut up, Air Jay!" the powerful Chaos Clone heard the voice of the female named Maliska saying to her companion with a rather annoyed and bored tone while at the same time seeing her appear from within the shadows of its realm. "You really shouldn't be bothering Lord Parasite with your little whinings about being better than Lord Shade! Besides it's getting rather boring and annoying."

As soon as it heard those words come out of the female's mouth, Nightmare Parasite just let out a sigh of both exhaustion and annoyance. The creature knew that the two human creations of Diol's were never in good terms with one another. In its honest opinion, the Chaos clone thought that it was rather childish for them to be fighting like the way they are now.

"(Hmph!) You're nothing but a suck up bitch, Maliska. Always the one to play the part of the good girl," it heard Air Jay responding to the red-haired woman's words with a bit of disgust and annoyance within his voice while seeing the female clearly becoming annoyed. "I bet that you're just doing that so that you could butter up to Shade more in order to get him to notice you. Talk about being desperate enough to get la..."

Before it could hear Air Jay finish the rest of his words, Nightmare Parasite saw a blue beam of energy charging itself towards the young man's direction. The creature saw the projectile colliding near both of Air Jay's feet and becoming a huge chunk of ice on the ground. It turned its three green eyes towards Maliska's direction which is where it saw the energy beam being fired from. As it suspected, the creature saw a powerful amount of blue energy gathered within her hand ready to throw towards Air Jay's direction at any given moment. When Nightmare Parasite turned its attention back towards the raven-haired young man's direction, it could tell that he was not very pleased.

"Hey bitch! Watch where you're throwing those ice attack of yours!" it heard Air Jay shouting out towards the red-haired female who it saw was creating a powerful burst of orange-red flames that appeared within his hands. "Unless that you're planning on getting burned, I suggest that you stay the hell away from me! Otherwise..."

Before it could have the chance to intervene with the situation at hand, Nightmare Parasite saw a pair of crimson long spears of energy hitting the ground near both Maliska and Air Jay's feet. That was when the powerful creature heard the voice of Shade calling out to the two of them in a commanding tone of voice, "That's enough out of both of you! Lord Parasite doesn't have the time or patience to be seeing the two of you waste your powers on one another fighting! I suggest that you both calm down before things around this area become rather violent."

"Ah, so you've finally returned, Shade," the Chaos Clone said to its creation while seeing the human-like vampire appear from within the dark shadows of the realm that they were all in with a pleased tone within its voice. "I've managed to see that battle of yours with that black-suited humaniod named Bass and I could see that you were able to take him down with only a small portion of your power and abilities with little effort at all. However, I'm very surprised that you let that creature live when you could've just killed him outright."

"It's just that he's really not worth the effort or time to kill for me to destroy with all of my power. Heh! At least not yet," it heard Shade responding to its words with his voice never faltering in being calm about what he just did.

Before it could have the chance to speak to its creation, Nightmare Parasite heard the annoyed and enraged voice of the long haired human male shouting out, "I'm betting that the reason that you've let that punk to live is because you're too chicken to even finish him with all of that so-called full power of yours! Ha! I bet that you don't even have the guts to back up those attacks of yours! Hell, I would even fight you right now in order to prove it!"

As soon as it heard those words, the powerful clone began to have a thought in its mind that made it chuckle with delight. "Heh! Heh! Heh! So you would like to prove that Shade is one of those lower evolutionary weaklings by fighting him, then I would be more than happy to grant your little request," the powerful liquid creature said to Air Jay while at the same time letting out a snicker within its own snake sounding voice. "I would let Professor Diol know about this certain developement and also arrange for the battle field to be set up. Just wait a moment while I call over to Eris so that I could be sure that this battle won't go unwatched. Maliska, I want you to go as well in order to observe the battle. Now the two of you will await until I've open a portal to the chosen arena. Shade, you stay with me until I tell you to go look for them. The two of you are dismissed."

Right after it was finished with its words, Nightmare Parasite saw a smile forming on the raven haired human male's face as it heard him saying, "Alright! Now I get to finally have the chance to show this asswipe what it means to truly kick some ass! I can't wait until I get to mop the floor with that bastard!"

"Shut up, Air Jay! I bet that Lord Shade could take you down in a second!" that was all that it heard from the red-haired female before the voice become nothing more than a mere ehco that faded into the darkness.

When it sensed that both Air Jay and Maliska were no longer within hearing range or within its presence, the liquid creature turned to its vampire creation as it said with a calm tone, "Shade, when you have your little battle with Air Jay, be sure that you don't hurt him too badly. Despite his rather rude and rash behavior, he's still a valuable asset to my plans. Now, await for me to set up the battlefield so that you and Air Jay could have your battle."

"Of course, Lord Parasite," was the response that it heard from Shade right before the powerful liquid clone turned its mind and full attention towards the task at hand.

**End of Part 13**


	14. Chapter 14

**Note to readers:** This is Maurice here telling all of you in that I'm alive and kicking. Just don't go sharping your pitch forks and lighting your torches to use at me. It's just that ever since not having enough inspiration in order to keep this fic going. Just be glad that I was able to do it at all let alone not doing it at all. That and the fact that I've been planning on developing a huge fanfiction project that I've been working on these past few months. But I had to put it on hold so that it wouldn't distract me from doing this fic. Now that the explanations are done, I would like to say to all of you thanks for reading my fics. If anyone has any thoughts on what I should do for the next chapter of this fic, anything at all, don't be shy to raise your voice. **Generation-A**, thanks for all of the support that you've given me, despite the fact that I'm a little slow behind. That's all that I've got to say to you all. Later and enjoy!

**Part 14**

As he was carrying the unconscious body of Sylphiel towards the living room of Yai's tree house, Miguel felt his entire face becoming flushed with not only exhaustion, but embarrassment for as he heard the voices of his friends chatting amongst themselves. Most of what he heard is about the recent experience that they've all had with death back at Yai's own personal rocket. Others were discussing on the topic regarding both Shadow and Mana's sudden appearance. But he could also hear most of his young friends talking about how he is carrying the shrine maiden's sleeping body towards the couch like a couple of newly weds. As he settled the young woman down on the soft couch, Miguel heard the voice of Vector saying while at the same time stretching his legs in order to get the feeling back into them, "Man, that's the last time that I've allowed myself to fly on an rocket piloted by a klutzy little girl who's never seen a talking crocodile before!"

"That's because the young girl has never really seen the likes of us before, Vec. Let alone a huge talking croc like you," the young human teen heard Mighty's voice saying to the older Mobian while at the same time sounding a bit annoyed with a long exhausted sigh. "If it hadn't been for Yai managing to calm those maids down and told them that we're not the bad guys as well as have them not to tell anyone else a thing about us, then we all would've ended up as some lab experiments in this world's science laboratory."

"If all of you have experienced the kind of things that I've seen in my time at the ARK, then it wouldn't surprise you as much," he heard the voice of Shadow saying to the younger Mobians while at the same time turning to see them all entering within the living quarters. "Mana, do you have to hold onto me so tightly?"

"Oh, you're just so uptight about all those sorts of things, Shadow darling," he heard the voice of the young magician girl responding to him playfully while at the same time turning to see her wrapping both of her slender arms around the black and red hedgehog. "But that's what I've find so cute about you! Always trying to get people to take you seriously!"

From the way that he's seeing the Ultimate Life Form becoming flushed with the sign of affection from his girlfriend, Miguel could tell that he was embarrassed. That was when he heard Charmy saying while at the same time still a bit hyperactive about what just happened a while ago, "Man, now this is something that I've never had the chance to see everyday! Shadow having a girlfriend! Now I've seen everything!"

"I have to agree with Charmy there, guys," he heard the voice of Espio saying to his friends while at the same time seeing the purple chameleon walking towards a nearby wall and leaning himself against it. "I mean, during our time with the guy, he was perhaps the most strictest and serious person that makes Knuckles look like a regular nanny. Any girl, let be human or otherwise, who manages to make him blush like that has got to be pretty special."

Those words from the purple Mobian's mouth, caused Shadow to blush even further as well as glare at the Chaotix's direction. Right before he could have the chance to intervene, Miguel heard the words of Lan saying out loud to the two of them, "Well, at least be thankful that Yai has managed to get one of the maids to take the controls of the rocket or otherwise we would've been in the middle of a deserted island by now."

"No kidding! That's something that I do not want to experience ever again since that summer assignment with your little bug collection, Lan," he heard the voice of MegaMan saying to his NetOp with a rather exhausted tone while once again having the shrine maiden within his arms at the same time marching himself towards the hallway, mentally thankful that the subject was changed.

"I'm going to take Sylphiel to her room so that she could rest and recover from that pleasant experience that we all just had," was what Miguel said to his companions while at the same time walking towards the door that lead to the shrine maiden's room just before he shouted out, "Oh, and don't even think for a moment that I'm going to be doing what you all are thinking! Get your minds out of the gutter! Sheesh!"

After hearing what appears to be numerous remarks and snide comments from his companions, the young man began to walk himself towards the exhausted shrine maiden's room, carrying her unconscious body over his shoulders. While trying his best not to hit any part of Sylphiel's body or dropping her to the floor, Miguel was finally able to place the sleeping female onto the soft looking bed while not taking notice to the fact that it had been well made and done right as he gently place her on its surface. As he gave off a quiet sigh of relief, the teen turned his full attention towards the face of the sleeping beauty on the soft bed that she was laying on and stared at it for a full minute. He then blushed embarrassment for when he soon realized that she was still in her new yellow sun dress that became tattered from the battle she just fought.

_"Damn it! Keep your mind out of the gutter, man!"_ he thought to himself while at the same time carefully grabbing onto the bed covers and putting them over the young shrine maiden's body while at the same time giving off another sigh of relief. _"The girl just had a terrible experience with trying to deal with a group of green pirate ghosts and getting herself hit over the head caused by that young girl's flying. The last thing you need is all those thoughts going all around your head! Just leave Sylphiel alone to rest for a bit and check on her every..."_

Miguel's thoughts were cut short for when he turned his full attention towards the sleeping shrine maiden, who he heard beginning to give out a soft and frighten whimper in her slumber. Soon he heard that whimper turning into a horrified scream that seemed tortured at whatever dark haired woman was seeing. _"What the hell is wrong with Sylphiel! A bad dream?" _he thought to himself while at the same time going over to her side, seeing sweat and tears going down her entire face along with an expression that showed suffering and sorrow. _"From the way that she's screaming like a frighten child in a haunted house, that was no ordinary bad dream. I've got to do something!" _

With those thoughts done and aside, the teen began to grab onto both of the shrine maiden's shoulders and began to gently shake her for as he said to her in a composed and yet worried tone, "Sylphiel! Sylphiel! Wake up! Please wake up!"

As he did his best to wake Sylphiel without having to scare her more than she already was, Miguel was rewarded for his attempted efforts to awake the shrine maiden for when he saw her eyes opening filled with tears. The young man could tell that his female companion wasn't really having a wonderful dream and was one that he didn't want to have to know about. Before he could have the chance to ask if she was alright, Miguel was caught completely off guard for when he saw her leaping herself towards his direction and wrapped both of her arms around his body in a tight hug. He heard the shrine maiden sobbing right in between his shoulder and neck for as the teen did his best to comfort her the only way he knew how.

"Shh. It's okay! You're safe now, Sylphy. Shh," is what the young man told the crying shrine maiden in a soothing tone while at the same stroking her back gently and smoothly like a concerned parent. "Don't worry, it's just a dream you're having. That's all. Shh. Calm down."

While continuing to say soothing words and gentle gestures in order to calm Sylphiel down, Miguel suddenly felt and heard her sobbing beginning to settle down to a small whimper. When he noticed this, the young man loosen his hold on the young woman trembling body and saw her tears going allow over her face with a frighten and tearful expression just as she was starting to speak, "Oh, Miguel! (Sniff!) It's so horrible! (Sniff!) I had this dream that my everyone I knew in Sairaag including(Sniff!) father, were (Sniff!) were all being...!"

"Shh! You don't need to say anything, Sylphy," Miguel responded to the young dark haired woman while at the same time continuing to stroke her back gently in order to calm her down. "It's only a nightmare that you have. That's it. Shhh. It's okay. Let it all out. It's okay. Shhh."

As if to respond to his words, Miguel felt the shrine maiden once again pulling him into a hug while still sobbing in between his shoulder and neck. Forgetting all about being embarrassed about holding her, the young teen did his best to comfort the woman as best as he could. After a few moments of gentle gestures and soothing words to the sobbing shrine maiden, Miguel could feel Sylphiel's sobs subsided only to be reduced to soft sleeping breaths of air. When he loosen up on his hold on the shrine maiden's body in order to look at her face, the young man could see that she was already fast asleep with a small and peaceful smile on her face.

_"Aw! I guess she still must be exhausted from the day that we all had," _Miguel thought to himself as he carefully laid the sleeping young woman back onto the mattress of the bed for when he felt both of her arms continuing to keep a firm hold on his body. _"Man, for a gentle shrine maiden that's incapable of hurting a small kitten or even a fly, Sylphiel sure is strong. She surely can't expect me to sleep in the same bed with her like we did last night! What would the others think for when they all see this?" _

As he did his best to free himself from the young woman's arms, the teen could feel that his female companion wasn't planning on letting go her catch without a struggle. Then Miguel tried to pry off Sylphiel's arms away from his body by carefully tickling her waist with his fingers. Of course, the result other than being able to hear the young woman's soft giggling was that the little action was only able to tighten around the young man's body even closer to her than before. This action caused the teen to blush a bit for when he realized that most of her clothing were ripped from the ghost pirate assault that she encountered a while back. This of course also lead to hearing Sylphiel give off a small whimper or plea, almost like that of an innocent newborn child calling for its parents to hold it.

_"Sheesh! Miguel, you're both a soft and dense person," _Miguel thought to himself as he heard the whimpering pleas of the shrine maiden continuing to come through her mouth. _"I mean, first of all you've seen the way that the girl has had it in for you since the two of you met and started hanging out with you more often whether it be in your world or her world. She also seems to show more interest in you than she did with the rest of the guys from Mobius or with anyone else for that matter. Not that I'm complaining. She seems to calm herself down a bit for when she snuggles close to me like a little kid."_

The male teen looks down on the sleeping female's face to see a content and happy expression on her face for as he saw her continuing with her slumber. _"Whatever dream that caused Sylphiel to have the case of the shivers seems to have stopped," _Miguel thought to himself as he continued to mindlessly stroke the young woman's back as he gave out a huge yawn indicating that he was beginning to feel a bit tired from today's events. _"Man, I guess that being in a bed for this long has made me a bit drowsy as well as today's little fiasco. I guess that it would be alright that if I could spend another night with Sylphiel holding onto me like a huge teddy bear seeing as she likes it so much. Heh! Heh! Heh!" _

The young man could tell that the shrine maiden was enjoying the warmth that his body emitted as he saw the look on her face becoming like a child holding his or her favorite toy. He also noticed the shy expression on her face as well as the pinkish red shade of color developing on it. _"Well, seeing as I'm not going to get an argument from her anytime soon, I guess that I have no choice but to spend the night with her again," _Miguel thought to himself with a low sigh of defeat as he managed to free one of his arms from the shrine maiden's strong hold of him and then beginning to wrap the huge and soft blanket of the bed over both of their bodies. _"Not that I'm complaining about having her hugging me and all, but I just hope that she doesn't squeeze the living daylights out of me. I guess that I'm too much of a worry wart trying to find an excuse not to hold her like this. I could even allow this to become a regular basis of sorts. I just hope that the Chaotix or Vector for that matter don't put their noses in to where they don't belong or decide to drop in unexpected finding me with my arms wrapped around Sylphiel."_

With those thoughts done within his mind, the young man soon found himself dozing off to sleep while still having his arms wrapped around Sylphiel's weak and slender body.

While seeing his friend Miguel taking an unconscious Sylphiel out of the living room of the tree house that he's in, Shadow quickly managed to piece together the information that he had gathered through what the Chaotix and the humans that inhabit this world. From what he heard, the world that both he and girlfriend were in has technology that is far advanced than what Miguel's world perceived or could come up with. Not only that, but from what he heard from the Chaotix and Miguel, they along with Sylphiel each came into possession a shard of Chaos Emerald that seems to have been shattered through unknown means or forces. From the way that he saw the interest developing on Mana's face, he could tell that she was as bit as confused about this as he was. But he also noticed the amazed and yet jealous expression on her face for when she saw Sylphiel the first time in her life.

His thoughts were soon interrupted for when he heard the voice of Vector saying to him with a rather sly and curious tone in his voice while at the same time pointing his gloved finger towards the female magician, "Well, Shadow, I've never pictured you to have a sweet babe like her as a girlfriend let alone a human one. I mean, what a catch you've made!"

Right at those words, Shadow began to give the crocodile a rather hostile glare that would usually be seen on his face for it matched his usual serious personality well. Not only that, but he managed to frighten the entire Chaotix group along with the human boy for whom he known as Lan Hikari. He also notices the digital blue suited and human-like entity, known by the young boy as MegaMan, was quivering with fear of the look that he was giving towards their direction. Just as he was about to give each of them a piece of his mind, he felt smooth and yet slender arms wrapping themselves all around his body as if he were like a stuffed animal. That was when he soon realized that the female magician was the one that has her arms wrapping themself all over his now trembling body.

"Shadow darling, it's not nice to frighten your friends with that look of yours," he heard Mana saying to him with a playful and yet motherly tone while at the same time making him blush with embarrassment just as she spoke again in a frightfully childish tone. "You're scaring me as well with that look of yours. Please don't do that anymore. For me?"

As he turned towards the young woman's direction in order to protest, Shadow could see the puppy dog eyes that Mana was giving him. He gave out a sigh of defeat as he let down the dark and frightening glare that he was giving the group. While noticing everyone giving out a huge sigh of relief and his girlfriend giggling with amusement, the Ultimate Life Form began to hear the voice of the blue human entity in the Lan's device saying to him, "Man, that guy's really scary! Do you guys have to deal with this sort of thing every time you guys get together?"

"Well, he's usually not the socializing type of person that you would want to mess with, little man," the black hedgehog heard Espio responding to the mechanical being's words with a composed and yet nervous tone within his voice. "But since seeing this girl giving him the puppy dog look, I'm surprised that a girl like her was able to subdue him so easy. Something that not many people in our world haven't accomplished."

After hearing those words, Shadow began to say to the group with a stuttering tone within his voice while at the same time trying to regain his pride or whatever was left of it, "Th-That's not true at all, guys! I'm the Ultimate Life Form! I am Shadow the Hedgehog!"

"Oh, just be quiet and stop fidgeting because you're starting to become really uncomfortable for me to hold," he heard Mana saying to him with a annoyed and playful tone within her voice while at the same time feeling her arms giving him a gentle squeeze as well as her body rubbing against his fur. "Now just settle down and relax because I'm liking the way your fur is on my skin right now. It's so soft and fluffy."

As soon as he did as he was told and gave out a sigh of defeat, Shadow heard the voice of Vector saying to him with a rather sly and playful tone of voice, "Man, Shadow, has this girl got you wrapped around her finger! It makes me want to give her a hug myself."

At those words, the Ultimate Life Form began to give the green Mobian a small but threatening glare just as he spoke to him softly but loud enough for him to hear, "Vector, please do not provoke me into using my Chaos Blast unless you want me to reduce this entire place to a pile of rubble."

While trying to sound as menacing as he was suppose to be, Shadow heard the nervous voice of Mighty saying to him with a rather quick tone while sounding like he was trying to change the subject, "Say, Shadow, what brings you here to this place anyway? Just how it is that you were able to arrive to this world without the use of a Chaos Emerald? Last time I checked, one was needed in order to create a portal to this or any other world."

While calming down and mentally thanking the armadillo for the change in subject, the black hedgehog began to say to everyone with his usual calm and serious tone back into his voice, "Well, the rest of the guys back on Mobius were quite worried that Knuckles didn't find any of you back in your little detective office. When we all tried to contact both Miguel and Sylphiel through their own perspective home worlds, we didn't detect a single trace of their Chaos Energy anywhere on the surface of the planets with Tails' little probe and radar. We all became worried that something horrible might've happened and just as we were about to investigate the matter, the scanners detected Eggman starting one of his usual schemes causing both Sonic and Tails to take care of him. Knuckles went back to Angel Island in order to continue his watch over the Master Emerald to prevent any sneak attempts that Eggman might try to pull. You all could see how I was the most likely choice to go and investigate what caused you along with both Miguel and Sylphiel to vanish from our sights."

"But that just leaves the question as to why that girl in the magician's outfit is with you, uh, Mr. Ultimate Life Form, sir," he heard the human boy named Lan saying to him while still feeling nervous about the Ultimate Life Form's appearance as he pointed his finger towards Mana's direction.

Just as he was about to answer the youth's question, Shadow heard the female magician responding with a rather calm and polite tone while at the same time feeling her arms still keeping their hold around his body, "Well, it would take quite a while for us to tell you and the Chaotix of how we both first met. But what I can tell you is that through my world, I've sensed Shadow's own life energy being diminished that I was barely able to sense it at all from where I was from. Without hesitating, I've managed to use this in order to track him to this very world where he exhausted most of his energy."

After she spoke, the Ultimate Life Form saw Mana withdrawing one of her arms from around his body and putting out her hand wide open to reveal a green gemstone within her palm. The same green gemstone that Shadow himself received as a reminder of the first day that both he and the female magician first met within Miguel's world. The black hedgehog saw the reactions on everyone's faces for when they laid their eyes on the green mystical jewel. He saw the Chaotix becoming mesmerized by the gentle green glow that the gem emitted. He even saw Charmy's young face becoming hypnotized by the emerald colored stone's light as it sparkled like a precious jewel on display for a jewelry shop. He then noticed that both the human boy Lan and the blue entity MegaMan were mesmerized by the green gem stone's appearance as everyone else within the room.

That was when another thought came to his mind that he thought that he nearly forgotten. "Whoa! I just remembered. Tails gave me this device right before I used the Chaos Control in order to get to this world. Mana, if you would so kindly let go of me, I would like to show the group what I've brought."

"Oh, fine! But you owe me a cuddle in bed for when we both get to sleep, Shadow darling," he heard the blonde female saying to him with a mischievous and playful tone within her voice while at the same time unwrapping her arms from his body just as he turned towards her face in time to see her winking one of her eyes towards him.

While trying to hide the blush that was about to develop on his face, Shadow was able to compose himself and held up the flat device that he received from Tails a while ago. Everyone's eyes were glued on the device that the Ultimate Life Form held within his hand. He even noticed Mana's face becoming entranced by the mere sight of the device. He then heard Lan saying to him with a rather excited and amazed tone within his youthful voice, "Whoa! Now that's some heavy duty gear! I've never seen a device that could be so flat and small! If it manages to work, then it would become the greatest invention since the coming of the Progress PETs! Whoever made this device must be a real genius!"

"Heh! Then you're going to be in an even greater shock for when you all hear this, kid!" the black hedgehog heard the voice of Charmy saying to him while at the same time becoming more like his hyperactive self again with a smile on his young face. "Believe it or not, this little gizmo that you're looking at right now is made by a boy in our world who happens to be eight years old! He's going to be nine in about a four months."

"WHAT? ARE YOU SERIOUS, CHARMY?" was what he heard from both Lan and MegaMan with surprised and shocked tones within their voices. "THAT HIGH TECH PIECE OF EQUIPMENT IS MADE BY A KID WHO'S EIGHT YEARS OLD!"

The black hedgehog gave out a small and soft chuckle in response to their shocking discovery. He didn't know why, but Shadow found it rather amusing for when most people discovered that Tails, a young eight year old two-tailed fox, was able to create such advanced works of machinery and technology such as the plane Tornado as well as the traveling space ship known as the Blue Typhoon. Truth be told, the Ultimate Life Form also find it hard to believe that a young fox of Tails' current age was able to come up with such ingenious devices that rival that of Dr. Eggman Robotnik. His thoughts were soon cut short for when he heard Mana saying to him with a curious but calm tone of voice, "Shadow, is what that cute bee boy Charmy saying is true? Was that device that you're holding right now created by a child only of eight years of age?"

Once again, Shadow gave out a small chuckle just as he responded to the female magician with a calm tone, "Heh! It's true, Mana. Tails is a friend of mine who happens to be very gifted for when it comes to making devices or seeing how a machine unknown to him works. That little boy alone was able to create a high speed jet along with other modes of transportation whenever we needed them. Trust me, I've seen most of his inventions at work and most of them are almost as good as Dr. Eggman's. Maybe even greater if he ever put his mind to it. But back onto our current topic at hand. I was originally intending to give it to Miguel for when I found him. However, seeing as he's now a bit busy trying to comfort Sylphiel for the night, I could see that I'm going to have to be the one to operate it. Of course, it will be difficult."

"Man, the way that the little guy was able to make a state of the art and portable computer like this one, it's no wonder he's considered a genius," he heard the little blue suited boy named MegaMan saying to him while at the same time turning to see the holographic screen with the boy's image hovering above the blue device within Lan's hands. "If I could just jack into some sort of sensor attached or built into it, then maybe I could check it out and see if I could get it to work."

"I don't think that it would be such a good idea, MegaMan," he heard the voice of Espio saying to the human-like computer program with a cautious tone while at the same time seeing the purple chameleon eying the device. "I mean, knowing the little guy, he might have installed and created a security maintenance program into to keep it from falling into the wrong hands."

"Well, we won't have to worry about the little guy's safety for the moment, Espy, 'cause from the looks of this thing, I'd say he's safe from harm but won't be able to excess it either. Just take a look at it," he heard the older Mobian saying to his friend while noticing him eying the entire device's structure as if examining it. "There's no laser sensor on the thing that MegaMan could go through. Seems like the only way to access its data is to do it manually."

"So, now what are we suppose to do in order to get it working?" Shadow heard Lan asking the entire group while at the same time noticing him still confused about how an eight year old was able to create such an advanced device.

"Well, Tails only said that once I get it to Miguel, he would know what to do with it," the black and red hedgehog said while at the same time beginning to scan the device with his eyes in order to find the on switch to it. "However, he didn't mention that it would be impossible for anyone else trying to get it working. If I could just find the right switch, then maybe..."

"Hey! What's that button do?" he heard the voice of Charmy saying to him while at the same time seeing the young bee hovering above his head and pushing to what appears to be a switch the looked identical to a normal button for whenever someone might want to boot his or her computer up.

Dread soon started to spread all across his face for as the Ultimate Life Form shouted out, "No, you little twit! You might cause a...!"

That was all that Shadow could say right before he saw the device within his hands beginning to activate. This sudden display of unexplained events caused not only the black hedgehog to become surprised with panic, but also everyone around the room became frozen with awestruck expressions coming from each of their faces. He could even feel both of Mana's arms once again wrapping themselves around his body but not too tightly so that he wouldn't suffocate. Just as he was trying to figure out what was going to happen, the Ultimate Life Form began to see a huge holographic screen coming up from above the device that he was carrying within his hands. From what he could see, Shadow saw the screen to be about what appears to be size of the huge screened monitor that he and Mana saw on their way into the tree building that they're in now.

Just as he was about to tell everyone to calm down, he heard a familiar voice coming from within the huge holographic screen above their heads. A voice that sounded both young and kind for as it said with static getting in the way of revealing his true identity, "Hello? Who's this? Do you know what time it is? This better not be one of those prank calls that...!"

Before he could have the chance to say anything to the person that he'd finally recognized, Shadow heard the voice of Vector saying with a surprised and amazed tone within his voice, "Tails! Is that really you! How's it going, little buddy!"

As soon as he heard those words come out of the crocodile's huge mouth, the black hedgehog began to hear his girlfriend saying to him with a confused tone within her voice, "Shadow darling, am I deaf or does your friend Vector know the person speaking through that device?"

"No, you're not going out of your mind, Mana," Shadow responded to his lover with a rather deep and long sigh while at the same time typing on the keyboard of the device in order to get the screen to show the image of the young fox properly. "If I could just get this device to display Tails' image properly with the right transmission signal, then I could perhaps get his image..."

"Oh, let me take a shot at that thing!" he heard the impatient voice of Lan saying to him while at the same time feeling the device being taken from him by the hands of the brown haired boy as he saw him scanning and mindlessly typing on its keyboard. "If I could just figure out how this device works, then perhaps I could get it to work properly. I've managed to work out the bugs of devices that are far more difficult than this."

"Oh, like I could ever forget the time for when you've helped Maylu with getting a regular toaster to work," he heard the voice of MegaMan saying to his human friend while at the same time with a smart aleck tone. "I still get nightmares remembering that day he almost started a fire to her kitchen. Boy, were both she and Roll upset."

"Hey, it was only that one time," Shadow heard the human boy saying to his little blue cybernetic companion with a rather annoyed tone within his voice as he saw him continuing to tinker with the device that Tails created. "Besides, what I was dealing with was an ordinary and not so technical toaster. Right now, I'm dealing with a piece of highly advanced alien technology that could be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands."

"Geez, now that's a comforting thought to consider, Lan," the little blue boy said while at the same time knowing that talking his friend out of doing something that he sought to finish is very much out of the question.

"Uh, kid, I think that it's best that we have Shadow to operate the device before anything strange hap..." was all that the Ultimate Life Form heard Mighty saying to the young human while at the same time seeing the device doing something strange.

What the black hedgehog saw was the device now held within the human boy's hands were began to fire to what appears to be a red and fully concentrated beam of light firing itself towards the huge screened computer module that was connected to the room. Before either he or anyone could have the chance to say anything about what was going on, Shadow saw something that he himself didn't expect. What the Ultimate Life Form was looking at was a huge image of the young face of two-tailed mechanic Tails looking at them with a surprised expression on his face. Right before he could have the chance to speak, the black hedgehog began to hear Vector saying to the young mobian, "So that's how that thing works. It attaches itself to another piece of high tech equipment by firing a highly concentrated laser beam towards its surface. On a normal laser, it wouldn't have worked. But it looks to me that the little guy was able to create a type of laser that could allow the device to hack into computers that don't rely on laser sensors in order to get into them. That also allowed the little guy to properly put the reception of the transmission in order for us to see his mug perfectly."

"Wow! I'm impressed that you were able to put all that information together like that to begin with, Vector," Shadow heard Tails saying to him while at the same time coughing up a little while trying to get over th e shock of the crocodile's deductive skills. "(Ahem!) Anyway, what took Shadow so long to get to you guys? I was beginning to worry that Shadow might've gotten lost on the way over to whatever world you guys are in. Just where exactly did you land in anyway?"

Right before he could hear the leader of the Chaotix speak to the young fox, the Ultimate Life Form heard the hyperactive voice of Charmy saying to him in his usual hyperactive tone while at the same time stepping right up to the computer monitor of the huge terminal, "Whoa! Tails, this is awesome! How did you manage to hook up to this computer even thought that you're all the way over here! You've got to show me how you do that!"

"Charmy! Now's not the time for you to start bugging Tails with your stupid questions!" was all that he heard Vector saying to the young bee while at the same time seeing him grabbing the child and putting him in a headlock. This also caused the black hedgehog to raise his eyebrow with confusion all across his face.

As he watch the quarrel between the talking crocodile and bee beginning, Lan just continued to keep his mouth quiet and watched as the two outer worldly friends argued and wrestled with one another. He then turned his full attention towards his PET and saw MegaMan just as transfixed on the scene as he is. From the look on his face, he could've sworn that his Navi has never seen something as amazing as two animal like aliens fighting with one another like normal human beings. After his experience with the outer worldly Navi named Duo, the head banded boy would've thought that his little blue friend wouldn't be too surprised with what he's seeing at the moment. It looked as though that he was mistaken.

_"Well, as much as I like to tease MegaMan about the face that he's using, there are more important things that I need to take care of," _Lan thought to himself while at the same time tapping his fingers on the blue device that he's holding just as he spoke to his friend out loud. "Mega, I think that we ought to try to cool those two and get that fox kid's attention so that we might have some answers that we might want to hear."

"Oh! Sorry Lan, but it's just that those two still never cease to amaze me for when they act like regular humans," he heard the blue Navi saying to him with a rather startled tone while at the same time facing the screen of the PET towards his direction. "Not only that, but the fox on the screen surprises me by being able to link that device that you're now grasping to one of Yai's own computer terminals. What I really want to know is just what...?"

Right before the blue Navi could have the chance to speak on what he had on his mind, Lan heard Shadow the Hedgehog shouting out the everyone in the room while at the same time feeling a bit annoyed, "WOULD EVERYONE CALM DOWN AND BE QUIET SO THAT TAILS COULD SPEAK?"

As soon as he heard those words echo all throughout the living room of the tree house, the head banded boy began to hear the Chaotix group ceasing their chattering while at the same time silencing the entire room from any noise they might make. The expressions that he saw on everyone's faces were all frozen stiff with fear. He saw MegaMan's image diving down back towards his PET in order to hide from the terrifying wrath that the being calling himself the Ultimate Life Form might inflict upon. He even saw the young looking fox now on Yai's computer terminal giving a blank and confused expression on his face about what the black hedgehog did. Then as he turned towards young blonde female magician named Mana, he saw something that was different from what the others wore. What he saw was only wore a hurt and sad expression on her face.

He saw the young woman's then turning into something like the expression a puppy dog makes for when it wants attention from its owner. As he saw Shadow turning to face the female magician's, Lan saw his annoyed expression immediately melting into submission before his eyes before turning to what appears to be like that of a worried parent. Before he could have the chance to ask about what was happening, the boy heard the voice of Mana saying to him with a rather childish and tearful tone within her voice, "T-That was mean, Shadow! Y-You didn't have to shout you know!"

Right before he could have the chance to speak, Lan saw the look on Shadow's face becoming that of sadness and what appears to be child like disappointment. Just as he was about to intervene, the young boy soon heard the voice of the fox named Tails saying to all of them, "Oookay. Now that was a bit weird. Anyway, just what kind of world are all of you in anyway? From the readings that I'm getting, it seems that the technology that you're all using are far too advanced to be any place like Miguel's world. Uh, and by the way, Shadow, who's the girl?"

Right as he heard those words, Lan turned his full attention towards the black hedgehog just in time to see a rather flushed and embarrassed look on his face. At the same time, he also heard the girl named Mana giggling at the sight of her supposed animal-like boyfriend feeling both embarrassed and humiliated at being seen with her. Just before he could have the chance to intervene in the situation or even ask the child prodigy how he were to come up with such a device, Lan heard the voice of Vector saying to the little fox with a serious tone within his voice, "Tails, hold off that last thought for later! Right now, we're just glad to see that young mug of yours while trying to avoid those pirates that were after the Chaos Emerald. Or at least pieces of them."

"Oh alright, Vector. But when this is all done and over with, Shadow and that girl with him have a lot of explaining to do with me when they arrive on Mobius," the young boy heard the Chaotix's friend saying to him with both a rather and mischievous tone within his voice while at the same time seeing the fox turning his attention towards his direction. "By the way, who's the kid?"

Taking in the message that his existence was finally noticed, Lan began to speak up for the first time since the scenes in front of him began with a rather confused tone, "If you really must know, my name is Lan Hikari. I was the one that came into contact with those one broken shards of that Chaos Emerald that both Miguel and Sylphiel were talking about. Oh, and as for where they both are right now, I think that the two of them are fast asleep after today's events. It's a long story and I think that your friends the Chaotix would explain things better than I could seeing as they too are involved in this."

"He's right about that, Tails," he heard the voice of Espio saying to him with a rather serious tone while at the same time stepping up to the computer monitor as he turned his attention towards a still hyperactive Charmy along with a pleading Mighty who was trying his best to keep his young friend still and Vector under control. "The four of us were just in the middle of trying to find a case for us to investigate just as Charmy came rushing in the room with a shard of a Chaos Emerald in his hands."

"Then the next thing we knew, the four of us were enveloped in bright green light and we found ourselves waking up into this world," Lan heard the orange and black armadillo saying to the fox on the screen saying while turning to see him finally able to get the young bee calm and under control. "Not only that, but we've also noticed Miguel trying to wake us along with Sylphiel. Of course, we all soon discovered from the two of them that they've each held a piece of the emerald along with Lan and his little blue Net Navi. But the two of them were frighten at the time for when they've finally managed to catch Vec in one of his morning moods whenever he wakes up."

"Hey! It was just that one time, Might! Besides, Charmy was the one that dropped the telephone on me!" Vector responded to his friend with an annoyed tone just as he cleared his throat in order to compose himself. "Besides, Lan and MegaMan both called me an alligator and they both thought that we are all aliens from another planet before running all around the neighborhood like two crazy hyperactive kids filled with sugar!"

"Hey! I resent that! Besides, you and your friends are from another planet, Vector!" was what the head banded boy said the green crocodile with a rather childish tone while at the same time turning his full focus towards his PET, facing his blue Navi friend. "Come on, MegaMan! Back me up on this one!"

"Well, under normal circumstances, I wouldn't do so if it involves your school work, Lan. But what we're in is not a normal case, so I'll help ya out," he heard the response from his blue little friend while at the same time becoming annoyed with the words that he used. "Just jack me into the computer monitor so that I'll be able to explain."

"Okay, whatever you say, Mega," he muttered to his little Navi friend while at the same time pointing the PET towards the huge computer monitor's laser sensor in preparation to launch MegaMan towards his destination. "Jack in! MegaMan, power up!"

With those words shouted out, the young net battler saw the red laser going right towards the sensor of the computer terminal's screen. A moment later, he saw small but moderate screen of his blue Navi on the top right corner of the huge terminal so that everyone could still see Tails's face. And from the way that he saw the little Mobian jump up from his seat while revealing two fluffing looking tails from the bottom of his seat, the boy could tell that he was startled by the blue Navi's sudden appearance. He tried his best to resist the urge to laugh with amusement at the sight that he's seeing through the monitor. "Wh-What in the world is that thing!" was what he heard the little fox saying while at the same time seeing him point his gloved fingers towards MegaMan's face image.

"That would happen to be the kid's friend named MegaMan. Apparently, he's an greatly advanced AI program that could act and feel the same as people do in this world," he heard the voice of Shadow saying to the young fox boy while at the same time turning to see the black and red hedgehog becoming a bit embarrassed for when he saw the young woman named Mana still keeping her arms wrapped around him. "But we have more pressing matters that need to be taken care of, Tails. Like where the last piece of the Chaos Emerald could be. So far, most of the emerald has been completed through fusion of the pieces that Miguel and Sylphiel along with the Chaotix had within their possession right before landing onto this world. We still need one more piece in order to complete it and get it out of sight as soon as we can."

"I think that I may have the answer to your solution, guys," Lan spoke in front of the entire group while at the same time getting their full attention right before he spoke up again. "Right before a major virus outbreak is going on within this world, I've been to a meeting with the Net Savors. A world wide group dedicated to bringing down Net Crime from wherever it strikes. But back onto the point. While I was having my meeting with both my friend Chaud Blaze and one of my superior commanding officers Mr. Famous, they've been asking me questions about what's been going on during what happened yesterday at the school. Turns out that they have evidence believing that Miguel was the one responsible for those magnetic fields that every piece of the Chaos Emerald emitted. But it gets worse. Turns out that Chaud has in his possession the last remaining shard of the emerald."

As soon as he heard those words coming from the young human being's words, Vector immediately began to turn his full attention towards Lan's direction as he said with a rather panicked and yet excited tone, "You mean to tell me that a friend of yours has the last piece of the Chaos Emerald within his hands all along, Lan! Why didn't you just tell the guy that you've had one similar to the one that you've gotten before!"

That was when Espio gave off an annoyed sigh for as he walked over to his older friend and said to him with a rather calm tone of voice, "Vec, I think that it would be rather difficult for him to explain to his friend that the green shard he has is part of a powerful natural force that's able to emit a large amounts of great cosmic energy comes from another world. Not to mention the fact that he's confronted by one of this world's local authorities about what has happened yesterday and are no doubt suspicious about what he's been doing. I just pray that most of the locals back there didn't report our presence for when we've fought all those viruses a while back."

Just before either Mighty or Charmy could have the chance to speak a piece of their own minds, the Chaotix turned their attention towards MegaMan's direction for when they heard a beeping sounding echoing throughout the entire room. That was when young bee ask with a rather calm and curious tone, "Could someone tell me what that is about? Where's that beeping coming from?"

"From what I could tell within my scanners right over at this end, I'd say that someone's trying to contact the kid," Tails responded to the group while at the same time typing on his own keyboard in order to find what the problem is. "Lan, wasn't it? Someone named Chaud is trying to reach you through something that looks like a human male in red wearing sunglasses with long and wavy white hair. I've put up a fake image of myself as a human and told it that you're not over hear right now."

Right as soon as they all heard those words, the Mobians turned their attention towards the young human boy only to see a rather panicked and frightened expression on his face. Mighty was the first to speak his mind about the reaction, "Uh, is it just me or is this kid sort of catatonic for when Tails mentioned the guy's name?"

"It's not just you, Mighty," they all heard MegaMan saying with a rather exhausted sounding sigh while at the same time seeming to be as frightened as his Net Op was. "The guy that Tails talked with was none other than ProtoMan. A Net Navi that belongs to a guy named Chaud Blaze, the president of Blaze Quest Gaming Systems."

"Yo! You mean the same guy that the forehead girl was all steamed about? The one who's picture that we all saw her drawing over?" Vector asked the blue bomber with a surprised and shocked expression on his reptilian face right before MegaMan continued.

"Yeah, that would be the one, Vector. You see, both Lan and Chaud didn't start out as the best of friends. As a matter of fact, they were the most fiercest of rivals since the N1 Grand Prix Tournament years back. But now the two of them have cooled off their egos and are now are friendlier terms. Of course, the guy is also known for being the most cool and logical person that we know."

"Then if this guy is Lan's friend and is as cool as MegaMan claimed, then he should be able to understand the situation that we're in at this very moment. I'm sure that once we've explained all about what's been happening around this world, then he should be able to give us the last shard of the Chaos Emerald without any problems," they all heard Shadow speak up while turning to see him still wrapped in the arms of her non-human boyfriend.

"Unfortunately, Chaud is one of those type of people that don't socialize with normal people pretty well, Shadow," the blue Navi said to the Ultimate Life Form while at the same time giving out a nervous chuckle before he continued. "His Navi ProtoMan takes right after his Net Op right after being placed as the vice-president of Blaze Quest Games. It's a rather long story."

"Under normal circumstances, I would be interested to find out how this Chaud became vice-president of a gaming company. However, right now we all need to focus on how to get the last piece of the Chaos Emerald without stirring up trouble, Shadow," they heard Tails saying to the black hedgehog from within the computer terminal's screen while at the same time a little anxious about what he just heard from everyone right before he calmed himself down and continued. "What we're all dealing with is a young man that's holding a powerful natural force that threatens the stability of his world's own dimensional fabric just by existing. Just what is the matter with you anyway, Shadow? You've never use to say things like this without thinking about it first. Does this have anything to do with that girl in the magician's outfit I've mention earlier? Who in the world is she and why is she hugging you like you're her stuffed toy?"

Right before either one of the Chaotix could have the chance to answer, they all heard the voice of the girl named Mana saying to all of them while at the same time feeling a bit playful, "Well, I happen to be Shadow's girlfriend as all of you would call it in your worlds. Both he and I have been together since having first met within Miguel's world a while back."

With those words, the Chaotix wore both blank and amazed expressions on each of their faces for when they've heard this from the young female. When they turned their full attention towards Tails's face on the huge computer screen for when they've saw their young friend wearing an expression that's as amazed and confused as everyone else. They've also come to notice MegaMan's face is wearing the same expression and probably sharing the same thought that everyone else is thinking. Lan was the only person in the room to speak this thought out loud just as he said with a surprised tone, "Whoa! The two of you have been together for that long! Just how in the world did that happen!"

Just as they all saw Shadow barely managing to cast one of his seriously frightening death glares towards the boy, the Chaotix heard the voice of Tails saying to all of them while at the same time managing to get their full attention towards him, "(Ahem!) As much as I would like to explore more on Shadow's new little personality that he's building around himself, we've got other problems to deal with, like what to do with the last emerald shard that's now in the hands of a kid that's not as trusting as Shadow was for when we talked to him back then."

"Oh, and let's not forget those creepy green pirate ghosts that were after the emerald sent by that creature Nightmare Parasite," they all heard Charmy saying while at the same time grabbing the attention of not only everyone else, but Tails as well.

"Then if that thing's responsible for those creepy ghosts in pirate clothing, then why are they after the Chaos Emerald to begin with?" was what the armadillo said to everyone in the entire room while at the same began thinking thoughtfully about the situation.

"Well, the obvious reason to that is that Nightmare Parasite could be after the emerald in order to increase its own power. But why go through all that trouble at all when it could just as easily take it on its own?" they all heard Tails responding to all of them while at the same time wearing what appears to be a worried and exhausted expression all over his young face just as he gave out a yawn. "But we could talk more about that tomorrow when we have the time. (Yawn!) Right now, you guys have really caught me at a really bad time. I was about to get some sleep for the night for when you've guys began to contact me through that device that I've given to Shadow a while back."

"Has it really been that long, Tails?" the Chaotix heard the black hedgehog saying to the boy genius while at the same time noticing the confused tone within his usually serious voice right before he continued. "From what I could tell, it's only been like about four hours since we've last spoke back in our world."

"It looks to me like the time lag with trying to cross between different worlds are starting to take its affect, Shadow, (Yawn!)" was what they've heard the young fox saying to them while at the same time giving off another tiresome yawn from his side of the communication's link. "I've better sign off while I still have the energy to do so. I would suggest that all of you would do the same. We can all talk about this the moment that all of us are together. Good night."

With those words, they've all saw the huge image of their young two-tailed friend's face disappearing out of the huge computer monitor while leaving MegaMan's image hanging at the upright corner of the computer screen. Right before either one of the Chaotix could have the chance to speak about what to do now, they all heard Mana beginning to yawn tiredly while at the same time turning to see her once again wrapping her arms around Shadow as if he were like a huge stuffed animal. This caused everyone, both MegaMan and Lan included, to give out blank and confused expressions on each of their faces at the scene they're seeing.

"(Yawn!) I think that we should take that cute fox boy's advice and get some sleep," they heard the young female saying them while at the same time seeing her pulling up the Ultimate Life Form towards the empty hall way that lead to the bed rooms that they would be sleeping in. "I'm sure that Shadow would agree seeing that he's as tired as I am using up too much of his energy. Besides, he still owes me for that ruined date we had."

While seeing him flustered with being in the arms of his girlfriend's arms, the Chaotix jumped with fear for when they received a huge and life threatening glare from the Ultimate Life Form as a sign that if they ever told anyone of what happened, they would be sorry. Before either one of the Mobians could make a comment on what they've just saw, they all heard Lan saying to all of them with a rather confused tone, "Uh, would anyone tell me what's going on between those? They both look like a couple of teenagers on a date."

Then, in one swift motion, the entire group of Mobians found themselves collapsing to towards the hard and yet well furnished floor of the tree house that they're all in. Espio was the first to speak him mind right after he managed to get himself off the pile that he and his friends had made of themselves. "Y-You're kidding me, right kid? After everything that you've just saw and heard, you still don't know what just happened?"

While receiving a nod from the young boy in the blue bandana, the Chaotix sighed with both annoyance and exasperation as all of them began to pick themselves up from the floor while dusting themselves. "I think that it's time that both you and MegaMan should both start to get home," Vector began to say to the human boy as he pointed his huge hand towards a nearby clock near the wall of th living quarters of the tree house. "Look at what time it is."

When they've all saw the young brown haired kid beginning to turn his full attention towards the clock and began to become panicked for when he saw that it was right about to become nearly close to 7:00 p.m. That and the welcomed fact that they all saw the young boy rushing to the door while jumping up in mid-air in order to place what appears to be parts of a roller blades at the bottom of his shoes before dashing off out the door and out of sight. "Well, that was kinda rude of the kid," Espio said to the others while at the same time lowering himself down on the floor and putting himself in a meditative state. "Just because he was a little late with trying to get home on time, doesn't mean that he should leave us out in the cold like that."

"Espio, you and I have seen how motherly Mrs. Hikari is, and if she's as protective of the kid as I think she would be, then Lan would have a right to rush out of here," Charmy responded to his older companion while at the same time flying around until he found a cozy spot near the couch. "Besides which, what should we all do now?"

At those words, three of the Chaotix heard Vector give out a sort of menacing laughter while noticing their leader going over to the huge computer monitor while typing in what looks to be a message or e-mail. "Vector, what are you up to now?" was what the purple chameleon said to his older friend while at the same time eyeing him suspiciously about what he's planning to do. "We should be getting some rest for if we're going to be thinkin' of a way to get that last emerald shard tomorrow."

"Oh, I'm not ready to get some sleep just yet, Espy. Hee! Hee! Hee!" was what the green crocodile said to his ninja companion with a playfully evil tone while at the same time finally managed to get the image of Yai on the huge screen of the computer terminal. "Yo! Yai! Think that you could put up some grub for me and my friends to chow down on? The cook of the house is fast asleep with her boyfriend. Oh, and we need to talk about some plans that we're making for tomorrow for three lovely young couples. I think that you might find this very interesting. All of us would be working together on this one, so here's the plan..."

_"Oh, joy,"_ was what Mighty, Espio, and Charmy all thought in unison as they tread at the plot that they're older friend is planning in store just as they all heard him beginning his conversation with the young rich girl.

When the two of them finally reached their room for the night, Mana released her boyfriend from her arms, she immediately saw him going over to the door right before slamming it shut. From what she could gather, the young magician could tell that he was a bit annoyed and embarrassed about having their relationship found out by most of his friends. What confused her the most is the fact that the black hedgehog would keep something like this from his own friends. _"But then again, after just hearing about it the way that they did, it's no surprise that they've never heard about me until today. I wonder what Shadow was thinking for when he didn't tell any of his friends about our relationship up until today? Is he embarrassed about the two of us being together like this? I'll just have to ask him and be blunt about it." _

Just as she was about to turn her full attention towards the black hedgehog, the female magician began to hear the voice of her lover saying while at the same time sounding as if he were speaking to himself, "Man, this is totally humiliating! Not only did the Chaotix find out, but soon when Sonic hears of this from Vector's big mouth, he's never going to let me hear the end of it."

As she turned to face the expression of the self proclaimed Ultimate Life Form's face, Mana could see the embarrassed and yet distressed look that spread all across it. She almost giggled at the fact that he could become so embarrassed so easily for when it came to socializing with huge crowds of people. The fact that he seemed both exhausted and nervous about having to listen to his friends becoming so interested in their relationship was so unlike his usual personality. "Shadow darling, I know that it's not easy for your friends to find out about our relationship like this, but don't you think that you're making too big a deal out of this?" she said to her black and crimson boyfriend while at the same time going over to his side just as she began to lightly touch one of his shoulders in order to assure him that he wasn't alone. "I mean, I know that you could be a little...quiet for when it comes to talking to people, but that's no excuse to cut out your friends from your own personal life like this. I mean, I told my master, Mahado all about you, and sure that both of your got off on a bad start, but that's just because he's just seeing if you're not a harmful creature planning to harm me like most beings and creatures are for when they've misused the powers from the Millennium Items and become corrupted by their dark powers."

"I know that, Mana. Believe me, I know," was what she heard her lover saying to her while at the same time feeling him tense up with the stress of his friends knowing about their private little relationship still on the back of his mind before he continued. "(Sighs) I know that you're master really didn't approve of the two of us seeing one another since breaking the news to him, but the good thing about him is that he's not one of those overprotective parent types that would worry for their child's safety and force us to break apart. However, it's just that having the others find out about it seems kinda awkward for me to deal with. Especially with both Sonic and Vector. I could swear that those two have the biggest mouths in all Mobius. When I turn to see Vector in the morning, I would never going to hear the end of it."

After hearing her boyfriend finishing what he had to say, Mana began to wrap both of her arms around his body and picked him up as if he were a huge stuffed teddy bear. Luckily, the spikes that she'd felt on his back weren't as sharp as they appear to be as she felt the smooth fur gently stroking the neatly exposed skin of her upper body while at the same time carrying him over towards the bed. From what she could tell, the female magician could still feel the black hedgehog tensing up from what he's just experienced a while ago. She finally decided to break the silence by speaking to Shadow smoothly while at the same time having her hand stroking the top of his head, stroking it right through his fur, "Well, just relax, Shadow darling. I hate it for when you stress out on little things like that.

"Especially for when it comes to us. I mean, you're always too serious for when it comes to trying to keep your personal life a secret, trying to keep that serious image of yours. Well, why can't you just for once in your life just loosen up and allow other people to share your feelings? Is it because you're still too scared for anyone to get close to you because you're afraid to lose them? Is that it?"

When she waited to hear a response from Shadow, all Mana heard was nothing but still silence from within the room that they're in. Right before she could have the chance to speak again, the young female immortal heard her lover saying to her with a rather quiet and shaken tone of voice, "No, that's not the real reason, Mana. You see, ever since I've been able to live on Mobius for as long as I could remember, I've always lived like a real shadow. Never really dead, but not truly alive either. I'd figure that if I keep all of my emotions and feelings to myself, I'd never get hurt. I guess that I'm just too afraid of most of my friends to get to know the person right beneath the frightening exterior that you're all looking at right now. People always judge me right before they all get to know me. Most of the children who took a look at me for when I try to walk in the streets look at me as if I'm some sort of monster. Image the kind of attention that I'll get if this world's media finds a picture of me."

The young female magician began to feel both annoyed and yet sad at what the black hedgehog within her arms just said to her. _"I didn't know that Shadow have ever felt this way for when it comes to getting into public. He seems to hide his emotions all too well for when the two of us went out in public. Especially in his human form that I've placed on him. Well, it's time for me to get some things through that thick skull of his." _

"Shadow, stop worrying about that sort of thing," she said to the Ultimate Life Form in a soft and yet stern tone while at the same time having hand going right under her love's face and forcing it to face towards her direction so that he would be looking right at his crimson eyes. "It's an attitude like yours that keeps you from allowing your friends or anyone for that matter from knowing the true person that you really are inside. You really have to stop acting like this dark creature that people keep seeing you as and allow them to see that gentle person that I'm seeing."

To add to her words, Mana began to nuzzle her chin right on top her Shadow's head like a huge teddy bear, feeling the soft fur caressing the surface of her own body's exposed skin. She also began to stroke one of her hands towards the silver fur that's on his chest. From the shuddering reaction that she received from his body, the female magician could tell that he wasn't complaining about the action that she was doing to him. But she soon ceased her action for when she felt and heard how relaxed he felt at her touch. "There now, Shadow darling, are you all better now?" the blonde magician purred towards her love while at the same time gently cuddling him while at the same time as she began to lay themselves down on the comfortable bed.

When she did that, Mana could almost hear the black hedgehog beginning to breath a bit more easily than he did before she also noticed that he was also comfortable enough for him to sleep. The young female let out a tired but polite yawn just as so she would not disturb her boyfriend just as he was about to get some sleep. "(Yawn!) I think that the two of us should get some sleep right now, Mana," was all that she heard Shadow saying to her as she felt his soft and furry back resting itself on the front of her body while at the same time feeling the tenseness that she once felt beginning to ease up from the tension that he'd felt before.

"I guess that (Yawn!) I would have to agree with you on that, Shadow," the young female magician said to her boyfriend while at the same time feeling a bit tired from what she just talked about as well as today's events while shifting herself a bit while trying to find a position to be comfortable in. "I guess that the two of us are a bit more tired than we both let ourselves after what we've been through today. (Yawn!) I'm too comfortable holding onto you like this, my darling. Your fur is so soft and fluffy like one of my furry Kuribo friends."

"Oh, alright, Mana. (Yawn!) I guess that I could allow you to do so seeing as you're my girlfriend and all," was what she heard from the drowsy black and red hedgehog just as she finally stopped her fidgeting in order to find a comfortable place suitable for her to stay put in. "I just hope that when we wake up in the morning, Vector and the others would be smart enough to keep their own mouths shut about (Yawn!) what they saw."

"(Yawn!) Don't worry about that, my darling," the female magician said to Shadow with a cute yawn just as she continued to stroke and play with her boyfriend's jet black fur while moving her other hand away from the silver patch on his chest. "If any one dares to try to make fun of you, I'll see to it to cast a spell on their mouths so that they won't try to think about doing so again. Of course, I will release them from it once they've learned their lesson. Wouldn't you agree, Shadow darling?"

Just as she waited for a response to come from her black furred boyfriend, all that Mana could hear from the one in her arms was soft breathing coming from the Ultimate Life Form. Right as she carefully moved herself in order to take a good look at his face, the young female giggle softly with delight as she took in the pleasure of seeing the peaceful and smiling expression on it. _"Just like a cute, tired, and lonely little puppy," _she thought cheerfully to herself just as she looked away from Shadow's face and stared at the ceiling over her just so she could get herself into a deep sleep. _"I just hope that my darling is able to recover from what I've just told him but it needed to be done. I'm really worried about what he just told me. _

_"I mean, how could anyone treat the gentle person within my arms like he's a frightening monster? I guess that's the very reason on why he always seems to look serious all the time. I would be too if I'm viewed as a frightening creature from the Shadow Realm. Maybe by tomorrow morning, everything would be different. Something might come up that could lighten up his mood a bit. Perhaps he would be even more pleasant once we meet up with both Miguel and his female companion Sylphiel in the morning." _

Just as she once again turned her full attention towards the sleeping hedgehog's direction, the female magician carefully leaned onto his head in order to give him a quick but tender kiss on his forehead. When she was done, Mana began to once again let out a quiet and cute yawn right before she said to her black furred boyfriend in a soft tone, "Sweet dreams, Shadow the Hedgehog. I hope that you have pleasant dreams. Dreams that would hopefully get your emotions back together. (Yawn!) I love you."

With those words out her mouth, Mana soon started to feel both of her eye lids dropping over her sight right before blackness overtook her. Before she knew it, the female magician found herself dozing off to sleep with Shadow still wrapped comfortably within her arms.

**End of Part 14**


	15. Chapter 15

**Part 15**

Just as he was about to call it a night from the events that had happened today, Chaud began to receive an incoming transmission from his Navi ProtoMan through his own person computer terminal at home. "What's wrong, ProtoMan? Why didn't you put in the transmission link towards Lan's PET for when I've sent you to make contact with MegaMan?"

"My apologies, Chaud, but there seems to be someone who's in the middle of something with Lan as well," was what he heard his crimson partner saying to him just as he saw the image of his long time friend over the computer screen. "From what I could see, he seems to be chatting with some kid with reddish orange hair who appears to be about eight or nine years of age. It could be possible that the kid was the one responsible for the transmission block seeing as Lan couldn't be smart enough to come with a complex firewall program like his father could."

"Well, that aside, what should we do now? It's pretty obvious that the guy is hiding something from us and I want to find out what it is," the skunk haired boy said to his digital friend while blocking out the little private joke that ProtoMan made right before getting back to business. "We both know that he and MegaMan wouldn't be the types to harbor a fugitive that could be a threat to the city unless the guy isn't who we thought he would be. It could be very well be connected with that guy that we've caught him with in one of the surveillance videos. Lan obviously doesn't want the two of us involved knowing that we might accuse the guy of the huge magnetic disturbance that is somehow connect to this gem shard that we've found yesterday."

With those words, Chaud began to pull his eyes' attention towards the black metal box that contained the huge green emerald shard that he'd found right before continuing to speak. "This emerald piece isn't like anything that we've ever encountered. The energy that it emitted was so great that it caused nearly all of the machines at the Net Police Headquarters to go berserk for no apparent reason. Not to mention that Lan accidentally slipped for when he called it a Chaos Emerald. That means he seems to know something about that strange gem more than he's letting on."

"So what do you suggest that we do about it, Chaud?" he heard his Navi asking him with a rather confused and yet composed tone within his voice. "It's not like Lan and MegaMan are willing to tell us what has been going on with them recently."

"It looks like that we might have to take a different approach at the matter, ProtoMan," the young prodigy answered to his long time digital friend while at the same time turning his attention towards his computer screen just before he continued speaking. "We don't want to cause a stir that might cause him or MegaMan to panic or become suspicious about what we're doing. Even if it means going against orders of the Net Savors."

A long and calm silence surrounded the huge office that the young Ace Netbattler occupied, he heard a confused and yet calm response from his long haired best friend just as he spoke, "Chaud, are you suggesting that we keep a close eye on Lan in order to see what he has been up to as of late? Both he and MegaMan might get suspicious and would continue to evade the information regarding the terrorist attacks."

"Then we'll have to just have Dark Miyabi to keep an eye on Lan so that we could find out what he's been up to," Chaud replied to his best friend while at the same time seeing the time of his office clock. "I'm sure that he might be able to come across something suspicious on Lan's unusual activity. After all, he was able to back us up right on time right where we need him the most in the past. He might be able to pick up a clue about those animal creatures that we saw during the virus attack."

"I agree, but I think that it might be time for you to get some rest, Chaud," was what he heard ProtoMan saying to him while at the same time seeing the dark visored Navi checking his internal system's clock for the current time. "It's just pass 11:00 pm and you would need all that rest for tomorrow's meeting at 10:30 am sharp."

"I intend to do just that, ProtoMan," was what the young boy said to his best friend while at the same time giving out a quiet but soft yawn just as he was finishing typing up the rest of his work for the night. "After all of the paper work that Lan has me doing after the virus outbreak that ended with me doing late night work, I'm really going to need it. That kid has a lot of explaining to do for when I meet up with him at his home later in the afternoon."

"But there's one thing that bothers me about this whole situation, Chaud," he heard his Navi saying to him through his PET while at the same time turning off the main computer terminal and heading out towards the door. "It's about those creatures that you've saw with Lan during our fight with the viruses in the real world. From what I could look at from my point of view, they seemed to be too real to be ordinary kids in costumes playing hero. That's what bothers me. I just hope that they don't turn out to be some alien race that could become a threat of sorts. Not only that, but why do I get the feeling that they are the beginning to some of our troubles?"

While opening both of her eyes towards the shine of light over her lids, Sylphiel began to give off a cute yawn in order to shake off the exhaustion that she was feeling. _"Did I have the strangest and most terrifying dream," _the young shrine maiden thought to herself while at the same time turning her attention towards the face of the person whose arms she was in. _"Miguel seemed so warm and cuddly for when I'm within his arms. I think that all I cause nothing but trouble for him since he started to notice my own night terrors. They seemed to crept up towards my mind for ever time I fall asleep alone."_

The young woman felt her entire body shiver with a chilling fear crawling all over as she thought of what she dreamed about. The reaction of her body caused Miguel to give off a little mumble within his sleep and held her within his arms embrace a bit tighter and more protective than he did before. The shrine maiden giggled softly at the reaction that the young man gave off for when he felt that she was about to leave. As much as she would like to stay within the safety of Miguel's arms, Sylphiel needed to get up right now in order to get everyone's breakfast ready to eat. Slowly, she managed to slipped off of the young man's gentle embrace without waking him.

After managing to get up from the bed, the shrine maiden began to look down on her body and blush with embarrassment for when she saw her once new sun dress that she wore from yesterday now ruined. That was when her memories of what happened yesterday suddenly came flowing back into her mind as well as what had happened to her for when everyone used the power of the Chaos Control in order to arrive to where Yai was taken to. _"Oh, I remember now. I hit my head on the floor for when I've tripped over my new shoes and lost my balance. The last thing that I remember was Miguel going over to me to see if I was alright. Then I remember seeing..." _

Once again, her body began to shiver with cold fear for as she tried her best to forget the dream that she had last night. But what caused her to blush the most is the fact that she managed to remember how Miguel comfort her by pulling her into his arms while at the same time trying to calm her by stroking her back. This thought cause Sylphiel to blush almost to the color of a tomato. As she looked all over the room in order to search for some spare clothes to wear, the shrine maiden began to panic for when she saw that her new bag purchased by the young girl Yai was nowhere to be found. If it were filled with only the new clothes along her shrine maiden attire, the young female wouldn't be worried at all. But when the bag contains one of the most powerful forces that no other living creature should get his or her hands on, this would cause the young woman to panic with fear if her own regained self control hadn't gotten the better of her.

Just as she was about to think about exiting the room in order to search for the missing item, Sylphiel suddenly heard a knock on her own bedroom door, causing her to jump with surprise. While recovering from the shock from the sound, the young woman began to regain most of her composure and grabbed the handle of the door just as soon as she reached it. When she turned the knob of the door and pulled it open, the shrine maiden was greeted by the face of a young woman in a blue and white maid's outfit. When she came to realize that the older woman was a part of the huge group of maids that accompanied Yai within the huge flying vessel yesterday, Sylphiel began to say to her with both a flustered tone of voice, "Oh! I'm sorry that I might look a bit...improper this morning, but I can't seem to find the clothes that Miss Ayano has given to me while on one of her..."

Right before she could finish the rest of her sentence, the young shrine maiden began to see the young woman in front of her held out what appears to be a neatly folded pile of dresses. Not only did she see both her shrine maiden's garments and her newly selected attire, but she also noticed the same bag that she once held is also slung over the maid's arm in order to keep her hold on the fresh laundry. Before she could ask what was the meaning of it all, Sylphiel heard the woman saying to her with a cheerful smile on her face just as she felt her clothing being carefully dumped into her arms, "Miss Yai told me to have your clothes all washed and pressed for while you were having your rest, Miss Sylphiel. She also told us all about you and your strange friends as well as your situation. I would just like to say that I'm terribly sorry for our outburst. It was definitely uncalled for."

The words that the shrine maiden heard from the female servant's mouth was enough to cause her to nearly fall over with both shock and confusion before she noticed the weight of her clothing and bag being on her arms, preventing her from doing so. "Uh, well, thank you, miss. I think," was what the young dark haired woman said to the maid while at the same time managing a friendly smile towards her in gratitude right before a thought struck her mind. "Excuse me, but what happened to my friends the Chaotix and what are they doing right now? And did you happen to see one of them that appeared to be black and red all over his body with spikes on his who's with a young woman with blond hair wearing a rather strange magician's outfit?"

"Oh, they're out in the kitchen having breakfast at this very moment, Miss Sylphiel," she heard the older woman saying to her while at the same time noticing her looking at her rather dirty and tattered looking sun dress that she slept in throughout the night. "If you want, I would be more than happy to have one of the other maids repair and clean off the dress that you're wearing right now so it would be as good as new. I would be waiting outside near the door until you're finish changing so that I could get it done right away."

Sylphiel noted the polite manner in the woman's tone as well as the friendly smile that told her that her visitor was very well trained in greeting the guests that Yai had within her estates. But she force that thought aside and bowed her head respectfully to the young woman who brought her clothing with a kind smile right before she gently closed the door. She quietly walked over to an unoccupied chair near the window of her room and placed the neatly folded clothing on it. She selected a beautifully made and sewn dark violet dress that's sleeveless and was made to what feels to be a special type of soft cotton. Right as she went towards a nearby bathroom door, the young woman took one last glance at Miguel's sleeping face, smiling at the peaceful and content expression that he was wearing.

_"Miguel is certainly unlike some of the men that I've ever come across throughout my own world," _Sylphiel thought to herself while at the same time carefully closing the bathroom door shut behind her and began to undress herself through the back zipper of it. _"Perhaps maybe he could become the type of man that I would want to stay with, to kiss, and to hold onto..." _that was all that the shrine maiden thought to herself just as she realized what went through her mind and mentally chided herself for thinking that way. _"What am I thinking?! I know that Miguel is an attractive young man, but I'm sure that he doesn't feel the same way about me. I wonder how the Chaotix as well as Shadow and his new female friend would think about the new dress that I'm going to wear? I just hope that none of them get any strange or funny ideas for today that could put us in trouble."_

Just as both he and Mana began to wake up from their slumber, Shadow gave out a huge yawn of air just as he opened both of his crimson eyes in order to see the room filled with the morning sun. That was when he heard his humanoid girlfriend mumble something within her slumber for as he felt her arms tighten their hold around his entire body clearly not wanting to let go. The black hedgehog chuckled a bit at the way that the female magician would act like a sleeping baby, not wanting to wake up into the world of light. He felt her stroking her cheek against the top of his head's fur as if it were like a that of a teddy bear. Shadow gave out a little smile on his face for when he felt that reaction.

_"As much as I would like to stay this way a bit more, I'm afraid that it's time for both Mana and I to get up," _the Ultimate Life Form thought to himself while at the same time trying his best to free himself from within the young female's arms just as he spoke up to her softly. "Mana, it's time for the two of us to get up. We have another day ahead of us for we still have that last remaining remnant of the Chaos Emerald."

With those words spoken, the black hedgehog heard the young woman beginning to stir within her comfortable state just as she spoke with mumbled annoyance, "Mmmm, can't we just stay here for a few more minutes, Shadow Dear? I really too comfortable to move right now and you're just too warm to let go. I'm sure that those friends of yours could handle the search by themselves."

"As much as I would like to stay like this with you, Mana, but I'm afraid that we have to get up in order to keep Vector from getting too suspicious about what we're doing in the bed that might get us in trouble," Shadow responded to his lover's tired words with a rather playful tone just as he managed to get himself free from within the female's arms, feeling her shiver a bit.

"Aw! But I really don't want to get up, Shadow! You're so mean!" he heard Mana saying to him with a rather hurt but playful tone to assure him that she was only playing around.

"I'm sorry, young lady, but if we're to avoid anymore trouble from either those young humans and the Chaotix, we have to get up," the black hedgehog responded to her with a stern but fake tone just as he turned his attention towards his love's beautiful face and kissed her on the cheek. "Besides, both Miguel and Sylphiel are bound to be awake by this time. Plus, if we don't get there soon, all of the food would be gone."

"I thought that the two of us wouldn't need to eat food in order to be sustained?" he heard the female magician saying to him while at the same time feeling her lips touching the tip of his nose, causing him to blush a bit just as he saw her moving away from the bed. "But I suppose that most habits die hard. I mean, we could taste and enjoy food like everyone else despite the fact that we both don't need it in order to gain energy. Not to mention feel our mouths water for whenever we smell something that feels delicious! Like those cookies that most female wives make for their children as a snack. Mmmm!"

Just as he was about to add in something to the short but interesting conversation, Shadow began to notice a thick and noticeable odor in the air. Something that smells cooked and fresh from a stove. Something that he thought that he would smell coming from a kitchen for whenever Sylphiel cooked. "Heh! Looks to me that I was right. Everybody seems to be awake and having breakfast without us," the Ultimate Life Form said to the young female spell caster while at the same time managing to stretch his arms and legs in order to get himself to wake up properly.

"You could say that again, Shadow darling," he heard Mana saying while at the same time turning to see her picking up her strangely shaped magician's hat as she carefully place it at the top of her head. "I mean, from what I could gather by looking at him, that Vector friend of yours has a mouth that could finish an entire buffet of food."

The black hedgehog chuckled a bit in amusement for when he heard those words come from the playful female as he walked over to the door and began to open it. When he poke his head out to see what was causing the smell, he was soon taken by surprise for when he was welcomed by the face of what appears to be a young lady in a pink maid's outfit. The loud scream that she let out was so great that it could be heard from anywhere within the tree house. Just as he saw the young girl falling towards the floor and landing on her bottom, Shadow began to say to her in a polite tone of voice, "Easy there young lady. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm a friend of Yai's guests. Please calm down."

As soon as he said those words, he saw the young lady beginning to pick herself off from the floor and then began to speak with a stutter, "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's very rude of me to yell like that! I know that you're suppose to be Miss Yai's welcomed guests, but the way you look really creeps me out!"

_"Hmm. She must be the one little girl that nearly sent all of us to our doom," _Shadow thought to himself while letting a small smile escape his lips just as he nearly forgot the name of the person standing in front of him. _"Kiyruuin Sakurako, I think that was the name. At least that's what I could remember from all that shouting that big forehead girl gave out." _

Right before he could have the chance to say anything more that might help the girl to calm down, he heard Mana saying to him right as he began to fully open the door, "Shadow darling, who is it that you're talking to right now? She seems scared witless from the way that she was yelling."

Just as he was about to answer his girlfriend's question, the Ultimate Life Form began to feel the presence of his love coming from behind him and turned just in time to see her looking at the meek looking young lady that had just barely started to compose herself just as the spell caster asked in a polite tone, "Excuse me, miss, but do you think that you could tell us what happened to the rest of our friends? You know, the ones that look like my boyfriend over here but are from different species?"

When he heard those words coming from the blond young woman, Shadow began to see the young girl beginning to calm herself a bit just as she began to speak with recognition within her voice, "Oh! You must mean those friends of yours that call themselves the Chaotix? At least, that's what I've been told by the one called Vector say that the name of their group is. Right now, they're all having breakfast and three of my other partners are with them at this very moment at the kitchen serving their food."

The Ultimate Life Form began to smile at the way the young girl said those words, imagining the way that Vector along with any one of his friends declare themselves to be the greatest detectives all over Mobius. One of the many things that he now considers to be hilarious just as he was starting to open up more to the group since having met Mana. When blocking those thoughts out for the time being, Shadow began to hear Sakurako saying with a rather curious and confused tone within her voice, "Um, I don't mean to be rude to the two of you, but aren't you both a bit too...different to be considered a couple?"

The moment that he heard those words come out of the young girl's mouth, the black hedgehog began to hear a cute giggle coming from Mana's mouth just as he heard her saying in mock offended, "Why, young lady, I'm shocked. I would like to have you know that this creature is the most wonder and friendliest person that I've grown to know and love since the day we've met. He may look to be scary to you at first, but he's really a nice person once you get to know him better."

As soon as he heard those words coming from the female magician's mouth, Shadow began to hear the young girl saying to the two of them while at the same time looking as though she had suddenly realized something, "Oh, I just remembered! I'm suppose to inform Miss Yai about what Mr. Vector told me! But I'm not suppose to tell anyone else about it! I'm sorry, but I've got to go! Enjoy your stay at Miss Yai's tree house, Mr. Shadow! Miss Mana! And I'm terribly sorry that I've offended your relationship with what I've said! I hope that you both would forgive me!"

As soon as she saw the little girl in the cute pink maid's outfit beginning to run out of the hallway, Mana found herself giggling a fit for as she saw the bewildered expression that Shadow was giving off. Just as she saw the black hedgehog carefully closing the door of their bedroom, the female began to hear her love saying to her with a rather suspicious tone within his voice, "Mana, I don't know about you, but I think that Vector has something up his sleeve. Knowing the guy, I bet that it has something to do with matchmaking a couple of people and I have a pretty good idea with who he's going set up."

"Just who is it that you're speaking of, Shadow?" was what the young female magician said to her boyfriend with a rather confused tone just as she thought about what the Ultimate Life Form talked about.

"Who I'm talking about are both Miguel and Sylphiel, Mana," is what she heard Shadow responding with what appears to sound like a bit of amusement within his voice just before he continued. "Those two have been rather sweet on each other since the day that they both met. They may come from completely different worlds, but that didn't stop the two of them from blushing whenever they're speaking with one another about anything that doesn't concern world domination, universal destruction, or Nightmare Parasite. It seems to me that Vector has it up to here with those two beating around the bush and has finally decided to do something about it. He just better pray that his plans doesn't have the two of us involved or I'd make him regret that he did it in the first place."

Mana gave off another cute girlish giggle for as she heard those words coming from Shadow's mouth. Just as she looked at him straight at the face, the female magician did something that caught the black hedgehog off guard. What she did was that she went jumped towards his direction at a great speed and pulled the Mobian within both of her arms, embracing him into a warm and playful hug. The blonde girl began to hear Shadow give off a soft and friendly chuckle just as she snuggled herself against the soft black fur that he was created with.

"Just what was that for, Mana?" she heard her boyfriend saying with both a playful and confused tone just as she felt the softness of his black and red fur stroking against some of her exposed body.

"Oh, it's for being the overprotective and yet suspicious little cutie that you are, Shadow darling," was what she said to the Ultimate Life Form just as she felt one of his hands stroking one of the locks of her golden mane. "You're so cute for when you do that. Almost like a little black and lonely puppy feeling like he's not wanted by anyone!"

When she said those words out loud, Mana turned her eyes' direction towards the black hedgehog's face and laughed a bit for when she saw the light pink blush appearing on his charcoal exposed cheeks. Just as she was enjoying teasing Shadow, a thought suddenly struck the female magician that she almost would've made her want to slap herself on the forehead for not thinking about it sooner. "Say, Shadow deary," was what the blond female said to him with a playful and mischievous look all over her face, "how about the two of us give them both a surprise? Something that the two of us could really make everyone really jump out of their feet?"

With those words out of her mouth, the female magician saw the pink blush that he had on turning to crimson. She gave out another cute giggle for when she figured out that Shadow must've been embarrassed by the idea that he thought she was planning to do. As she released her hold from around the Ultimate Life Form's body, the young woman stepped back a few feet away from him and began focusing her thoughts on making her magical staff appear right in front of her hands. Just as Mana began to chant out the words to the carefully memorized spell within her mind, she began to hear Shadow saying to her in protest for when he finally understood what she was planning to do, "Mana! You can't be serious! What would everyone say for when...?!"

Just before she could have the chance to let him finish the rest of his sentence, Mana felt all of the magical power within her staff gathering and burst with intense pink light. Before she knew it, both she and Shadow were in their human forms barely even recognizable from their normal forms. The cloths that the once black hedgehog wore were exactly the same ones that he had worn for when both he and Mana toured Dentech City. The now disguised female magician, on the other hand, wore an attire that's completely different from what she wore yesterday.

What the female magician wore is something that a young teen aged girl would wear for when she's going out on a date. She was wearing what appears to be a pink and sparkling beautiful sky blue shirt that seemed to glitter with whatever light source was being emitted. What she also wore is a short but decent looking pink skirt that went to her knees. She had her now brown hair worn in the same hair style as well as the same color. Her eyes stayed as cute and innocent looking as they are when she was in her spell caster's attire.

Just as she saw her boyfriend recovering from the shock of being transformed into a human being again, the Ultimate Life Form began to say to Mana while still feeling a bit shaken from what just happened, "M-Mana! You do realize that the others are probably going to be scared to death for when they see us like this!"

"That's exactly what I'm counting on, Shadow deary!" was what the young woman was now saying just as she went over to the black clad boy of her dreams and wrapped her arms around one of his own, wearing a playful and impish grin on her face. "I can't wait to see the look on all of their faces for when they see us! Come on! We've got to get going!"

Just as she dragged her now tall dark and handsome boyfriend towards the door, Mana thought to herself with a cheeky look on her face just as she opened the door, _"I wonder how the rest of the others would take it for when they see us? Tee Hee!"_

Just as the four of them started munching on any piece of food that they could find, the Chaotix began to talk amongst themselves with worried and smiling expressions on their faces. Most of the worrying happens to be done by Mighty, Espio, and Charmy while Vector smiled. "Vec, you realize that Shadow would most likely blow us sky high for when he finds out what we're doing," was what the purple chameleon said to his older friend while at the same time trying to calmly eat some sausage along with his eggs.

"Oh relax, Espio. This is one detective that knows exactly what he's doing for when it comes to the game of love," was what the tall green crocodile said to his ninja friend while at the same time receiving a fresh new plate of toast given to him by one of the attractive female maids that are working around the clock in order to prepare their breakfast. "I know a forming couple when I see one, even though that two of the pairs are a bit weird.

"Both Miguel and Sylphiel aren't too hard to figure out considering the fact that they blush whenever they touch one another. Those two kids, Lan and Maylu, seem to have it in for one another like little sweet hearts. The same could be said about their Navis, seeing as that little pinky named Roll gets jealous for when another girl goes for little boy blue. Mana and Shadow are another story."

"As much as it pains me to admit this, Espy, but he's got us there," Mighty said to his purple friend while at the same time politely giving his thanks to another maid who wore her brown hair in a bun. "I mean, this Mana girl that we've seen with Shadow is something else. Not only is she a good looker, but it seems that she has more of a story between both her and Shadow than meets the eye."

"Even I have to admit that Shadow does seem a bit more...loose that he usually is. That's what really creeping me out!" added the normally hyperactive Charmy with a sort of playful tone within his voice before he continued. "From what we could tell since we've known the guy, he seems all business. Now, he just sort of acting like..."

"Like a regular person?" was what the leader of the Chaotix said to the young bee just as the green Mobian finished his sentence. "Well, whatever's gotten into him, I'm sure that it has something to do with that Mana girl that he's been hangin' around with. Judging from the way that she was sort of overly affectionate towards the black dude, I'm sure that she's a good influence."

"Well, that aside, Vector, I think that the four of us should be more worried about Shadow's fierce temper," was what the purple chameleon said to his older friend while at the same time calmly finishing the last of his breakfast. "I mean, in the past, you've saw how violently powerful he could be for when he gets mad. He was able to reduce an entire city block to bits! If he finds out what you and Yai have been talking about, then..."

Just before Espio could finish the rest of his sentence, all of them heard the voice of the black hedgehog saying to them from out of nowhere, "What is it that all of are talking about? Are you all planning something?"

At the sound of hearing the Ultimate Life Form's voice, all of the members of the Chaotix suddenly jumped up from where each of them were sitting and immediately looked for any place that they could find to hide. But it would seem at the time that all of them were thinking the same thought for when the four Mobians hid under the table in fear of the upcoming wrath that Shadow would lay upon them. Just as they thought that they were going to be on the receiving end of the black hedgehog's power and anger, they all heard one of the young female maids asking them with a rather confused tone of voice, "Uh, is something that matter with you boys? You four seemed like you saw a horrifying monster or something. The only thing that I see here is a normal young man despite his bizarre choice clothing along with a pretty young lady."

With those words said by the older human, all four of the Chaotix looking up from the safety of their hiding place in order to see what the young woman was talking about. As the Mobians looked at the direction that she was looking at, they all became shocked when they all met the sight in front of them that made them want to either attack or faint with surprise. What the four Mobians saw was a young human couple looking as though they were getting ready for their first date. One of them appears to be a teen aged young man wearing a huge jacket made of black leather. What made the guy in black more noticeable than his brown-haired female companion, who's wearing a rather adorable pink and blue outfit, is his hair spiky style. It was all in spikes with red streaks mixing in black, just like the way that Shadow's own spikes.

In response to the new visitors arrival in their presence, Vector was the first of the Chaotix to speak a piece of his mind just as he turned at their new visitors, "Wh-Who in the world are you two?! Just how was it that you both were able to get through Yai's advanced security system without being soaked like one of our friends did the other day?!"

As soon as he finished those words from his huge reptile mouth, his only response from the supposed male stranger was a deep but amused chuckle coming from him. The strange thing that got all four Mobians to become frighten at the moment was the fact that soft laughter almost sounded like the one that Shadow rarely gave off for when he found something amusing to him. Not only that, but cute girlish chuckle coming from his young brown haired female companion sounded like the cute magician girl for when she was treating the Ultimate Life Form as if he were her personal teddy bear. The way that the girl was so attached to the young man arm was no different.

After a moment of feeling confused with the response of the unexpected guests, the Chaotix heard one of the maids saying to them while feeling as though nothing has ever occurred, "It seems that Miss Yai has forgotten to inform me about the new arrivals that have just arrived here. I'll go inform her about the news and be back momentarily."

Just as they all see the young maid go off towards the exit of the tree house, the four Mobians turned their full attentions back towards the young human couple for when they've heard the serious and familiar voice coming from the young man saying to them, "Heh! You know, Vector, for someone who's suppose to be Mobius's greatest detective, you sure are slow on the uptake."

As soon as all of them heard the young man's voice, the Chaotix began to jump up with both fright and shock for when they heard his words. That was when all of them finally recognized the voice to be that of one of the most serious people that they've ever met: Shadow the Hedgehog. Just as they all thought that they were probably in some sort crazy dream, the four friends began to hear the voice of the girl clinging to his arm saying to them with a rather familiar girlish giggle, "Heh! Heh! Heh! I think that your four friends are very shocked with our sudden change, Shadow darling. But I suppose that our voices have sort of gave us away. Heh! Heh! Heh!"

When the four of them heard the voice of the young lady respond to her boyfriend, the Mobians once again want to jump from their shoes just as Vector stuttered to the two of them, "What the hell?! Just what is going on here?! You two are now...but then you both are...I mean, how is it possible that you both are...?"

Just before the crocodile could have the chance to figure out what was going on as well as try to understand what to say to the human couple, Sylphiel's voice appeared from out of the hall leading to the bedrooms while asking everyone in a rather confused tone, "What's going on, everyone? Why are all of you staring at that made you look like that you've seen a ghost and who are our two new guests? They seem to be emitting a sort of magic aura that surrounding their bodies."

**End of Part 15**

**A/N: **I would like to say that I'm sorry for the long delay in updating this fiction of mine. It's just that it was so hard for me to find inspiration for when new things keep running up to my face like my college work, reading new types of fictions, and coming up with new ideas for new stories. It's a huge project that I've been working that involves having my characters as well as most from Sonic the Hedgehog involving going into an unknown world that no one would be familiar with. But that's all that I'm going to say about it. Right now, thanks to a certain writer, I've got back on my feet and I'm going to finish works like this so that I could hopefully have enough ideas for my project to be up and running. I would like to extend a special thanks to the following people that have been very supportive: **Koinekid** and the group **Generation-A**. Thank you for your support and I hope that the help that you both provide continues. But I would like to extend a special thanks to two writers that have reminded me of what I should be really doing rather than ignore them and leave them unfinished: **AnimeMasterZero** and **Hikaru Irving**. Thanks to the two of you, I've got the energy that I need to continue no matter how far behind I am. I sometimes forget about important things like that and I hope that the two of you would continue the good work. Everyone rest assure, any new ideas that I would come up with would be put on hold so that I wouldn't forget them for when the time comes. That's right, Maurice A. Nigma is back and is determined to get his works done even if it means reading new fictions on hold! Well, later everyone and I hope to hear helpful feedbacks.

Maurice A. Nigma

The Great Blue One


	16. Chapter 16

**Part 16**

Just as she entered the scene, Sylphiel took a moment to take in the scene around her. What the young woman saw are all four members of the Chaotix looking rather shocked that have made them look like that they just saw a ghost. When she turned her full attention towards the young human couple who she barely took notice, the shrine maiden grew surprised for as she noticed some of their physical characteristics. What she saw on the young man, other than the black leather clothing, was the fact that he dyed and styled his hair the way that her usually serious Mobian companion Shadow the Hedgehog has for whenever she saw him within her world or Miguel's. The dark skinned young woman, who she saw was clinging onto the young man's sleeved covered arm to her very life, is giving her a sort of look that told her that if she were to flirt with her male companion, she would regret it.

Confused about what the young couple, Sylphiel immediately turned her full attention towards the Chaotix as well as the huge group of maids for when she notice everyone moved all of their focus onto her. After a moment of silence, the shrine maiden began to hear Charmy saying to her with a rather excited and yet rather flustered tone, "Wow! Sylphiel, y-you look very pretty! Just where exactly did you find those clothes! Are you trying to ask M...?!"

Just before she could hear the small bee finish the rest of his sentence, the dark haired woman saw the huge gloved hand of Vector taking a hold of the young Mobian while shouting out, "Quiet, Charmy! Now is not the time for your games! Can't you see that we're in the middle of trying to figure out just how both Shadow and his magician girlfriend now look human?!"

As soon as she heard those words come out of the reptilian leader's huge mouth, Sylphiel became shocked with what she learned. _"Those two young people are...Shadow and that female magician!?" _was what the young woman thought to herself just as she was trying to absorb this new information. _"That would explain the unusual magic aura around those two. Could it be that female magician's doing?" _

Before she could have time to mull over some more, the young woman began to hear the voice of Shadow saying to her with a rather flustered and restrained tone, "I'm really sorry about this, Sylphiel. I know that what you're seeing right now must be a real shock but please allow Mana to explain how..."

From the way that she heard the former black hedgehog's voice right before being cut off by the young female's hand, the shrine maiden could tell that he was a bit embarrassed. Something that, out of all of the times knowing the stoic Mobian, she would not be able to hear from a creature that claims to be the Ultimate Life Form. Just before she could have the chance to speak about what she's seeing, the dark haired woman could hear what appears to be a cough of disapproval coming from the young dark skinned young woman, that she saw clinging onto the now human male's arm tighter than she did before.

When she turned her attention back towards the young girl who she heard named Mana, the dark haired woman heard her saying to her with a rather jealous tone, "Excuse me, miss Sylphiel, but I happen to be my Shadow Darling's one and only woman in his life. As for what you and the Chaotix are seeing right now, it's a little spell that I've casted upon both Shadow and myself in order to help us to adapt to this world's surroundings. Though, when I first tried this spell on him, I've got to admit that I didn't expect him to turn out to become quite a handsome gentleman. Tee! Heh! Heh!"

When she heard those words coming from the young woman's mouth, Sylphiel didn't know what to believe. Her mind is so filled with so much disbelief that even the voice in her head found itself almost stuttering, _"I-I can't believe that the young man with the strange hair is actually Shadow. Whatever magic that the girl named Mana is using is very powerful. I mean, I could barely notice the magical aura that I'm sensing from around both her and Shadow's bod..." _

Right before she could finish her thoughts, the shrine maiden began to hear the voice of Espio saying out loud with a rather confused and anxious tone just as she turned to see the purple young Mobian's face a bit blank with all that's been happening, "A-Alright! I think that this just takes the cake! First those creepy pirates and viruses appear right out of the city, then both Shadow and his new human girlfriend show up right in the middle of this whole mess, and now we're seeing them in human form! Could someone explain to me what's the cause for what we're all seeing right now to happen?"

As to respond to those words, the dark haired female began to say to everyone within the room without thinking about who's really in the room, "The cause for both Shadow and his new companion's transformation is the magic that she's using. The aura that I'm feeling around their bodies is unlike anything that I've ever felt within my world. I can say that it's far stronger than any spell that I have ever seen or experienced. I could barely notice the magical presence of the spell when I'm this close to them."

"Whoa! Now that's impressive, Sylphiel," was what she heard Mighty saying while turning towards his direction in time to see a rather blank and yet surprised expression on his face. "I mean, sure I know that you are a very powerful white magic user from what I seen back for when we all first met, but I didn't think that you would be this good."

"That's for sure, Might," she heard Espio responded to his black and orange companion's words with an equally surprised expression on his purple face while recovering from his initial shock a moment ago. "I mean, when the four of us accidentally stumbled upon Miguel's own world, none of us would figure her to be a very powerful..."

Sylphiel heard the words of the purple chameleon cut short for when she noticed the fighting of both Charmy and Vector ceasing for when the older Mobian turned towards her direction and asked, "Say, speaking of who, just where is Miguel anyways? I thought that he would be here with you by your side for when we saw him carrying you to your room like the gentleman that he is."

At those words, the shrine maiden found herself blushing as the thoughts last night replayed in her mind. The memory of when Miguel had comforted her after once again having another one her nightmares sent a warm feeling through her body. During her time living with her uncle, the young woman was told by her living relative that he heard her yelling and crying as she slept. It was not too far from the truth considering that most of those dreams involve her worst fears as well as her past memories and experiences. However, Sylphiel's thoughts on the subject is soon turned back to the leering eyes of her current companions awaiting for her to answer.

Right before she could deny anything or even speak, she suddenly heard the scream of her once sleeping male companion erupting from the room with fear and panic in it.

From what he could see within his dream while recovering from his wounds received by the sub-human creature that he had fought with yesterday, Bass saw nothing but pitch black darkness. He thought that of all the things that he had to endure during all those years of being isolated throughout the cyber world's Undernet, the cloaked Navi had to think of the endless void. Just as he thought that the darkness within this place would consume him, he saw a bright but bearable light that seemed to illuminate the entire area. Just as he was wondering where he was or what caused the intense amount of light, the Black Shadow began to take a good like at the source of the great radiance.

_"Just what in the hell is causing all this light to appear?"_ he thought to himself while at the same time trying to get a good look at whatever was causing the bright light to appear. _"Just what is the meaning of me seeing this? Light appearing out of nowhere without any further explanation. If this is fate's way of making a cruel joke, then it certainly succeeded in testing my temper. Just what...?" _

Just as he was about to finish the rest of his thoughts, Bass eyes began to make out the image of the object that was emitting the strong radiance of bright white light. The cloaked Navi become both excited and agitated for when he saw an image of the one human that he was searching for the entire time right in front of his very presence. The human young man that goes by the name of Miguel. "Augh! It's you, you filthy excuse for a living creature!" is what the Black Shadow shouted to his visitor while at the same time, acting on impulse, charging towards his direction with malice in his voice. "You're the reason why I'm in this realm weakened and battered in this place! But I should be grateful to you seeing how I was able to come into the real world thanks to that Chaos Emerald! Now prepare to meet your maker!"

As soon as he got close to his unwanted visitor, the cloaked Navi suddenly found himself being engulfed by an even greater radiance of light being emitted by the young human in front of him. This sudden burst of radiance caused the Black Shadow to pause in his assault, frozen where he is merely a foot away from his target. Whatever force was causing Bass's body to freeze in place was powerful enough for it to even cease his control over the chaotic powers of Nebula Grey. Just then he felt something that he was quite unfamiliar with. A sensation that made him feel all warm and relaxed. Something that made him want to be a part of something other than a force of destruction. Just as he was about to emerge from within the white blanket that had engulfed his entire being, the Black Shadow came to the realization that he has finally awaken.

The place that he is in appears to be somewhere that is near an abandoned warehouse. Memories of what happened yesterday came flowing into his mind as he recalled the events. Bass remembered the way he was able to enter the human world through a dimensional rip caused by the unstable energies of Chaos Emerald that he heard about through MegaMan's Net Op as well as the human young man. His mind then flashed with the memory of fighting the humanoid vampire named Shade as well as the defeat that he was handed. He also remembered the way that the red haired man had spared his life and told him to get stronger for their next encounter. The last thing that he remembered is attacking an injured Yellowgon that have been flying near his way right before going into hiding.

As the Black Shadow tried his best to get himself off the ground, he felt both of his legs still feeling a bit weak as he sat back onto the ground. Realizing that he has yet to reach full strength, the cloaked Navi began thinking to himself about yesterday's events as well as the dream that had received. _"Hmm. It seems that most of my strength that I've used during that battle with that vampire hasn't fully returned. I would have to be patient a bit longer if I'm to regain full use of my own legs in order to continue my own search. But what really got to me is what that damn human creature said to me. Saying that it only used only a small portion of his strength in order to defeat me. If that's how strong he is for when he only used a small portion of his strength, then I could only image what his real strength must be like at full power._

_"But what really has me bothered is that dream that I had. What is the meaning of me having a human running through my mind like that? I hate those creatures for thinking that they could just use Navis as tools for their own enjoyment! I'll make them pay, that I promise." _

With those thoughts stuck within his mind, the power within his body reacted towards the anger that he was now feeling. The ground beneath his feet began to tremble greatly as his own dark power coursed through his body. If he had not composed himself a moment later, the building that he is now occupying would have collapsed under near violent shaking of the earth beneath his feet. Just as he as he regained his composure, Bass began to think calmly about what he should do next while laying still in order to recover the rest of his strength.

_"In the meantime, how am I going to locate that young human__ without the convenience spying through the machines' Cyber Matrix in any area that he might be," __Bass thought to himself just as he looked all across his black body and saw that most of the wounds that he received yesterday were all fully healed. "My body's structure seemed to have fully regenerated and functioning properly. However, my energy hasn't been restored to its peak and without another virus or computer bugs to feed upon, it would take about another day before my body's strength would return considering that I'm walking freely in the real world." _

Just as he finished his thoughts, the Black Shadow felt what appears to be a surge of energy erupting from a distant area. The cloaked Navi's eyes began to grow wide with shock just as he scanned his surroundings in order to locate the source. _"Where in the hell did that come from? This energy isn't as powerful as that damn vampire creature. No, it's something different. Whatever it is, it's being accompanied by a group of other creatures emitting strong but weak amounts of energy. It couldn't be that human's power seeing as this isn't what I've felt. Whatever it is, I must see if it could be that Chaos Emerald that I've heard about. That gem might possibly restore my own body's energy if it's as powerful as that human says." _

With those thoughts finished within his mind, Bass began to look around his surroundings once again in order to mentally detect where the energy was coming from. Just as he finally pinpointed the source of the sensation to be north of his resting place, the Black Shadow began to gather the amount of energy that he managed to recover through resting and began to float towards a wall which became a pile a rubble for when he flew out towards the skies of the real world.

The darkness within the dream is something that Miguel had once experienced when he was but a mere child. The sight of endless blackness could mean that a monster or spirit that laid lost within its clutches would pull him into the void along to spend the rest of eternity. But after his past experiences with these types of phenomenons, the young man knew better than to assume that it was another nightmare. _"Man, I hope that this isn't another threat to the world coming," _was what the teen thought to himself just as he irately awaited for what appears to be another visit from one of his mysterious benefactors, but nothing came. _"Hm? That's weird. Every time that I would get these types of dreams, I would be visited by one of those three entities that have helped me from before. But this time seems different." _

True to his word, Miguel heard what appears to sound like a young man yelling out loud, "Augh! It's you, you filthy excuse for a living creature! You're the reason why I'm in this realm weakened and battered in this place! But I should be grateful to you seeing how I was able to come into the real world thanks to that Chaos Emerald! Now prepare to meet your maker!"

The young teen didn't need to be told who he is confronting for when he turned and saw his soon to be attacker; who he saw is none other than the Black Shadow himself charging towards his direction with two dark blades of energy within his hands. As he prepared to try to intercept the attack, Miguel suddenly felt a warm radiance engulfing his very being along with the cloaked Navi's. Just as he was being blinded by the light that entered within the dark realm that both he and Bass were in, the teen felt his entire body being covered with something similar to when he put on a costume on Halloween. A costume that happens to be skin tight towards his bare skin and act as second layer in order to protect him.

Right before he could have the chance to exam himself further about his new appearance, Miguel was suddenly consumed by the silver light that have engulfed his entire being earlier. Just as he was trying to figure out what was going on, the young man soon found himself staring at the ceiling of the room that he was sharing with Sylphiel last night. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand just in time to feel the sweat on it. "I guess that it was only a dream. Well, that's just great," the teen said to himself out loud while at the same time getting himself up and scanning his surroundings. "It's been like almost three days since we've been here and we've yet to find the last piece of the Chaos Emerald anywhere. What a day it's going to be."

Just as he was about to get himself off of the bed, Miguel was suddenly confronted with the cutest set of eyes that he's ever seen. Right before he could allow his conscious mind could register what was going on, his instincts immediately took control and screamed to the top of his lungs in fright.

Right before any one of them could have the chance to respond to Sylphiel about what she supposedly done with Miguel last night, the Chaotix heard the frightened scream of the said teenager blaring from down the hall of the tree house. Before any of them knew it, the four Mobians, along with the two human females and the now human Ultimate Life Form, were running towards the room where their brown haired friend is supposedly sleeping in. When they all finally reached their destination, the group were greeted with a sight for when they opened the door. What greeted everyone's eyes is a rather frantic Miguel on his feet over the bed while at the same time seeing the sight of a frighten little maid going over to the nearest wall in response to the fright. Everyone began to give confused and blank expressions at what they've just saw.

Vector was the first to break the silence for when he spoke in his usually demanding tone, "Yo! What's with all of the screamin'? Miguel, you look as if you've just saw a ghost!"

As soon as the crocodile said those words, he heard the teenage human male beginning to speak with a flustered tone just as he moved from off of the bed, "W-Well, I've j-just woken up from the m-m-most terrifying dream that I've e-e-ever had in my l-l-life and this little girl s-s-scares the hell out of me!"

"Miguel! Please watch your language!" was what they've heard from the human shrine maiden with a scolding tone of a mother.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" was what they've heard the girl, Kiyruuin Sakurako, saying to him with a frantic voice while bowing down towards the brown haired teen along with everyone else. "It's just for when I went to his room in order to wake him up, he seems to be sweating and moving about like he's suffering from a nightmare and..."

As soon as the young female's words were cut short for when Mighty intervened by saying to everyone with a still confused tone of voice, "Uh, I could be a little rude for interrupting you, little girl, but I think that it would be wise for all of us to give the guy some space so that he would be able to breathe correctly as well as leave him to Sylphiel. He could tell us what's wrong with him for when he's ready to speak."

"Heh! At last, one of you four who has the enough sense to know when to leave a scene," was what the disguised black hedgehog said while at the same time gently pulling on the arm of the brown skinned human girl named Mana. "Come on, Mana. Let's give the two time that they need in order to get things in order."

"Wha?! Are you kidding, Shads? We've got to..." that was all that the leader of the Chaotix could say before he was cut off by the when he saw the black and red haired boy giving off a familiar deathly aura of anger and annoyance, as well as facial expression, towards his direction just before he spoke.

"If you and your friends don't get your sorry hides out of that room, I'm going to make you wish that you decided to do so in the first place."

As soon as he finished those words, the group of Mobian friends and the young maid, save for Mighty whose smart enough to avoid getting on the Ultimate Life Form's bad side, quickly made their getaway back to the kitchen with frighten expressions on their faces. When they came back to the dining table and turned their attentions towards their unfinished meals, Espio was the first to speak his mind about what they saw, "Man, even when he's transformed into a human, Shadow could still give me the creeps for when he gives us that look of his."

"That's for sure, Espy," Charmy responded to his purple friend just as he managed to catch his breath right before turning his full attention towards the plates of food left uneaten. "But I guess that it goes to show that no matter what form the guy takes, Shadow would still be Shadow. I'm starting to wonder if that plan Vecter and Yai cooked up would be a death wish."

"Oh, don't worry about that, Charms," was what the green croc said to his young bee friend while at the same time taking a handful of food just as he continued. "Shadow would be more than happy with us for as soon as he and his girlfriend, along with both Miguel and Sylphiel, are goin' to be at a special place that Yai and I discussed about last night."

"Oh, and I'm sure that the guy would be very pleased with what you've had planned for him and his girl tonight, Vector," was what Espio said to the older Mobian in a sarcastic tone while at the same time going back over to the wall to meditate.

Right before the green leader of the Chaotix could say anything more to the purple ninja, the four friends soon noticed the arrival of their now human friend Shadow entering into the room with his ever present death glare still on his face. "Just what is it that you morons are talking about?" was what the red and black haired young man said to the four friends while at the same time giving off a scowl that sounded like a dog growling towards an intruder.

Just as the disguised hedgehog was about to dig into the matter further, the four Mobians saw his brown skinned female companion wrapped both of her arms around her boyfriend from behind just as she cuddled him like a huge teddy bear. "Aw, don't be such a drag, Shadow darling. I'm sure that it's nothing to worry about."

"Somehow, I don't think that's possible in Vector's case, Mana," was what they heard the Ultimate Life Form saying to his girlfriend with a sigh of defeat while seeing him give a rather annoyed glare towards their direction right before watching him walk towards the living room and sitting on the couch with the young woman in toll.

The Chaotix remained quiet for as they continued to eat their meal without any arguments or conversations taking place. After seeing the maids finish with the feast of a breakfast they created, the group of four soon noticed most of the young ladies march off towards the exit of the tree house entrance to attend to other duties. The four friends soon found the face of the young rich girl Yai staring right at them with a huge smirk on her young face. "Well, did all of you have a good breakfast? I hope that it was good."

"It's the best meal that I think that I've ever had since this morning, Yai," was what Charmy said to the young girl with a huge and pleased grin on his face just as the young Mobian flew to her direction. "Of course, no offense to the maids, but miss Sylphiel's cooking was better."

"Well, that's good to hear, cutie! I just came here to see how all of you are doing right before the time comes," the young blonde said to the Mobians with a ominous voice right before scanning her eyes all over the rest of the room. "Say, what happened to both Miguel and Sylphiel? Aren't they awake yet?"

"Sylphiel just got up a few moments ago while Miguel seemed to have suddenly woke up from a nightmare," was what they heard Shadow saying while at the same time seeing him still attached to his dark skinned girlfriend like a child would with its mother or father. "It's best not to disturb them right now for they're discussing on it, big shining forehead."

As soon as they heard those words coming from the Ultimate Life Form's mouth, the Chaotix soon saw what appeared to be a vein popping out of Yai's shining forehead. Not to mention that the expression on her face is a clear sign that she was not pleased with Shadow's rude behavior towards her. The young girl shouted to the black and red haired boy with an angry tone, "Wh-What did you say, pal?! Just who are you to judge people by their looks, you black haired...?!"

Right before the young blonde girl could have the chance to finish the rest of her sentence, Mighty chose that moment to go right in between two them and push the rich kid away from the Ultimate Life Form. Both Espio and Charmy did not need to be told twice to get a hold of the young girl if they valued their lives. Both Mobians did their best to keep their blonde haired hostess from losing her temper in front of the disguised hedgehog with might result. "Shadow! Yai! Now's not the time to get into a sibling quarrel! We have other things to worry about! Like the final piece of the Chaos Emerald," was what the purple chameleon said to the two arguing opponents while at the same time helping Charmy keeping Yai from provoking Shadow into using a Chaos Blast.

"Espy's right on that, Homies! The homeboy and his little blue digital bud have mentioned that they said that the last emerald piece is in the hands of a kid named Chaud," was what the leader of the Chaotix said to everyone as he turned his attention to his now humanoid ally. "Shadow, would it hurt you to try to be a little nice to the girl who's allowing us to crash into her pad for free? It's the least that you could do after what we've put her and her friends through."

The Ultimate Life Form only gave a mumble of reluctance as a response to Vector's request right before going towards the living room window with Mana still clinging to his arm. Turning back to his companions, the crocodile looked at the young seemingly angry girl just as he managed to say, "Sorry for our pal's hospitality, Yai. It's just that he's one of those guys who don't socialize with people much."

"Obviously! He's almost as stuck up as that jerk Chaud!!" was what the little blonde said to the green Mobian while at same time breathing air in and out of her lung right before turning her attention towards her remaining maids and shouted, "Girls! I want a bottle of the most expensive imported strawberry milk in the country on the double! Chop! Chop!"

The four Mobians all saw the leftover group of young female servants all bowing politely to their master right before marching up towards the front door without any other thought. The Chaotix looked at the abandoned kitchen with blank and confused expressions on their faces. Mighty was the first to speak his mind, "Okay, if this is how a girl like her reacts to when dealing with things that bother her, I can't image what she's like when she gets really angry."

"You guys could say that again, guys. Both me and Sylphiel could hear the shouting and arguing from the bedroom," was what they heard the voice of their human friend Miguel saying to them while turning to see the young man along with Sylphiel entering the living room with confused looks on their faces. "What I would like to know is how you guys reacted towards seeing Mana. I bet that you guys are rather surprised at seeing Shadow with a girl for once in his life."

At those words, the Chaotix could have sworn that they heard Shadow let out to what sounds like a soft friendly and embarrassed chuckle; something that the four Mobians know that the self proclaimed Ultimate Life Form isn't capable of doing. But before they could inquire on it further, the group of detectives began to hear the black hedgehog's girlfriend shouting to him with a rather enthusiastic tone of voice, "Hi, Miguel! It's so good to see you again! Sorry for not greeting you properly, but the circumstances were sort of extreme at the time."

Just as they saw their human friend turning to greet the young couple, the four friends could barely restrain their own smirks of amusement for when they saw the bewildered expression on his face.

As soon as he turned his full attention to where both Shadow and Mana are currently positioned, Miguel could only stare with confusion and surprise as he stared at the two humans in front of him. The young female that the teen saw was latching onto a person clothed in black leather turned out to be Mana but in what used to be her human form dressed in a everyday modern girl clothes. But as he turned to face the young male in leather, the young man from Earth could only stare at what he assumed to be the Ultimate Life Form in human form. Miguel had always wondered what his black and red spiked friend would look like if he were a human being. Looking at him now, the brown haired teen could only stare in pure amazement and shock for as his eyes continued to open wide in disbelief.

"Ahem! Miguel, do you have anything to say or are you just going to stare at me all day with your mouth open like that?" was what he heard the black and red haired man saying to him with a rather confused and yet a little annoyed tone within his voice. "I know that this must be a shock for you to see me in this form but that's no excuse to start gaping like a fish."

After realizing what his outer worldly friend meant, the young man immediately began to regain his composure right before speaking in a stutter, "S-Sorry Shadow. But it's just that...you...Mana...you're both..."

Miguel's words were soon cut off for when he heard the voice of Sylphiel saying to him with a polite and yet unfazed tone, "I was rather surprised at Shadow's appearance as much as you are, Miguel. I went to see who was cooking in the kitchen and found the Chaotix eating, I sensed a strange magic aura floating in the air. When I entered the room to find Vector and the others eating at the table, I found Shadow and Miss Mana right next to each other different from what they were a while ago."

Taking in this new information, the brown haired young man immediately turned his attention to the young dark skinned woman and said to her with a rather confused and suspicious tone of voice, "Mana, just how did you and Shadow get here in the first place? For that matter, just how is it that the two of you managed to get into this world _together_ let alone transform into regular human beings?"

"I think that I should maybe I should be the one to answer your questions, Miguel," was what he heard the young female magician saying to him in a polite tone while at the same time chuckling nervously at what she's going to answer. "You see, while in my home dimension, I've felt a sudden jolt within my heart that tells me that something must've happened to Shadow. So, I've used the green gemstone that I have used the first time to get to your world and followed Shadow to this one. We were in our current forms as a way to blend in with this world's people thanks to the aid of my magic."

"But that doesn't explain why Shadow is here within this world to begin with," was what the young man while at the same time turning his full attention towards the Ultimate Life Form just as he calmed himself a bit but is still confused at seeing his companion's current form.

"I think that I should try to put this as briefly as possible given the current situation, Miguel," he heard Shadow saying in his usual cool and mutual tone of voice while at the same time taking a seat on the living room couch with his humanoid lover right beside him. "A while ago on Mobius, Tails has just picked up an abnormally within the space-time continuum. When he recognized the energy readings as those of a Chaos Emerald, he immediately contacted each of us to inform us of the situation. But as he tried to contact both you and Sylphiel from your respective worlds, the kid saw that your own bodies' Chaos Energies signatures were nowhere to be found. At least that's what I've been told for when I arrived at the fox's work shop.

As Tails put his effort into finding the two of you, Knuckles showed up looking like he just got frighten by a ghost. Before I could ask what was bothering him, Sonic showed up late as usual asking the fox boy if found any traces of both yours and Sylphiel's Chaos Energy. That was when Knuckles added that Vector and his crew seeming to have vanished into thin air with small traces of the emerald's energy within their office. When we heard those words, the young boy's machinery went crazy and he determined to have found the two of you despite receiving a weak signal. Anyway, after volunteering on the search as well as showing them the means on how I would do it, I warped to this planet and well..."

Before he could have the chance to hear his friend continue, Miguel heard Yai's young voice saying to him while seemingly calm down from whatever insult that she received from the former black hedgehog, "I think that I should be the one to talk seeing that Dex has just talked to me this morning. As it turns out, Dingo's still a little freaked after being attacked by your black hedgehog friend turned human while making his usual deliveries. Not only that, but his bosses seemed to have been a little frightened for when they saw the news of there being a black and red hedgehog running through the streets that is now all over the news. If all you don't believe me, then see for yourselves. Glyde, would you please turn on the television?"

"Certainly, Miss Yai," was he heard the butler Navi saying to his operator while at the same time seeing the little girl pointing towards the living rooms television screen.

Before the brown haired teen or anyone could have the chance to speak, he saw the TV screen filled with the image of Dentech's female news reporter Ribbita appearing just as she spoke with all the energy of a hyperactive teenager and the seriousness of a news reporter, "...Our top story for the day really has the Officials as well as local law enforcement baffled. From what local eyewitnesses could describe, it would appear to be a group of green glowing men dressed in pirate costumes while chasing what citizens claimed to be a small child dressed as an bizarre animal-like puppy with jet black fur and crimson streaks on its spikes! Something as most citizens would describe as weird and yet cute in a way."

At those words, Miguel immediately turned his gaze over to the Ultimate Life Form to find his friend emitting a powerful aura of red Chaos Energy all around his body. The young man concluded that the disguised Mobian was not pleased with the description. That and the fact that everyone but Mana, who is still attached to his arm, backed away from the Ultimate Lifeform's reaction. The remaining maids, he concluded, have already left the room for when they saw the stoic young boy getting ready to literally blow his top. But it was the next words from the chatty female report that nearly set the black hedgehog off.

"From what most of our news crew could describe, they are yet sure if this is some sort of publicity stunt for a new kids movie or something that a local company is for a puppy dog product..."

The young woman's voice was cut instantly for when the quickly beam of yellow light shot at the highly expensive television screen to pieces. Amazingly, the entire system itself was fully intact save for the fact that it's internal circuits have been fired to a crisp thanks to Shadow's little display of anger management gone wrong. Miguel, along with everyone in the room, held his breath and almost panicked at the thought of what the Ultimate Life Form would do next. _"Whoa! Holy mother of all that's good and sweet! That's some temper!" _was what went through the young man's thoughts while instinctively going over to Sylphiel's side and awaited to see what his angered Mobian companion would do next just as he heard him muttering quiet curses under his breath. _"I never knew that Shadow could be so sensitive for when it comes to being called cute or compared to something that resembles a puppy! I hope that nothing else would...!"_

"Hey, pal! That entertainment system cost about as much as a brand new PET for...!" was what he heard little Yai began to say before her voice ceased for as he saw the disguised hedgehog turning towards her direction and understood what caused the young girl to cease her rant.

Never in his entire life or since playing the Sonic games and reading the comics has he seen Shadow that angry. The expression on his face gave off a rather threaten aura that when a person looks at it, well, if looks could kill, then he or she would be dead already. He could feel both of Sylphiel's arms squeezing his entire body as he assumed that she must have felt just as terrified as he, along with everyone else in the room, is at the moment. So much in fact that he nearly fainted losing oxygen in his lungs thanks to the surprisingly strong hold of the shrine maiden. But what really got his attention the most is Mana's reaction.

Despite the fact that she is seeing the look on her lover's face which is as angry as a bull, Miguel could see that she is enjoying it. In fact, he could tell by looking that the female magician is only pretending to be afraid of her boyfriend's expression just for the fun of it. _"She either must be very brave or very naive to be still smiling after Shadow's little outburst!" _the teen thought to himself just as he continued to feel the shrine maiden's hold on him grow stronger by the minute.

"Y-Y-Yo! S-S-Shadow dude's g-g-going n-nuclear!" was what he heard Vector saying to his friends while at the same time sounding like what the rest of the others are feeling at the moment.

"What's his problem anyway?!" Mighty asked with both fear and confusion in his voice. "I've never seen him this PO'd since that time Sonic got on his nerves of being..!"

That was all that the teen could hear from the armadillo for when he heard the growling of Shadow who is growing more angry and intense with more red Chaos Energy. _"Oh joy! How are we all going to get out of this one? Shadow is in serious need for relaxation and anger management!" _was what Miguel thought to himself just as he continued to see the human Ultimate Life Form glow angrily while also noticing his seemingly incouragible girlfriend giggle at his little fit.

**End of Part 16**

**A/N:** I'm sorry for the delay in updating this story guys. It's just that I've been losing the need to write more ideas down into the next couple of chapters. Not only that, with very few long reviews, it almost made me lose interest into writing this fic further. If anyone's still out there wanting me to continue with this fic, let me know. Also, I'm going to be posting my Silver Radiance project throughout several forums and before putting the first episode on this site. That's all that I've got to say. Well, later and wish me luck on bringing this story back from the grave as well as going through my College Finals!

Maurice A. Nigma

The Great Blue One


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